2002:LORTON MAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER AFTER AIRGUN ATTACK
A man responsible for shooting his wife with an airgun amid a heated dispute over a shepherd's pie has been convicted of attempted murder.Simon Lee, aged 43, shot his wife twice in the head and neck after attacking her with a table leg.
He denied the charge of attempted murder, but a jury comprising five women and seven men at the High Court in Preston found him guilty.
The incident took place eight months after Lee and his wife, Caron, relocated from Horwich to Lorton, a village near Cockermouth, in an effort to improve their marriage.
The confrontation occurred last December while their three-year-old daughter was watching television in a separate room.
Lee assaulted his wife with a table leg and then shot her in the back of the head with an air rifle as she was dazed on the floor.
He reloaded the weapon and shot her again, targeting her neck.
After the attack, Lee fled the scene with his gun but later turned himself in, explaining he felt cold and wet.
During the trial, Caron Lee described how her husband's drinking habits worsened following their daughter's birth and recounted his anger on the day of the assault.
She suffered injuries that required five days of hospital treatment, including pellet removal from her head and neck.
The jury acquitted Lee of assaulting his stepson, Rikki, but convicted him of possessing a firearm with intent to commit attempted murder.
Sentencing is set for Friday, July 5.
