A GREAT Harwood man looking for his missing dog was shot in the back as he ran away from a man carrying an air rifle.

Blackburn magistrates heard that shortly before the incident Gordon Duncan Muir had threatened to shoot Naveed Shah.

The magistrates jailed Muir after hearing that when he was arrested he was carrying a knife in his belt and being told details of a previous assault which left his victim off work for two weeks because of the injuries he sustained.

Muir, of Cambridge Street, Great Harwood, pleaded guilty to assaulting Naveed Shah, possessing a loaded air weapon in a public place and possessing a knife.

He was found guilty after a trial of assaulting Paul Slater. He was jailed for 26 weeks.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said Mr Shah was looking for his missing dog when he was confronted by Muir carrying an air rifle.

He shouted that he had a .22 weapon and said: “Don’t come here or I’ll shoot you.”

When he pointed the gun at him, Mr Shah turned and ran off but as he fled heard a popping noise and then felt a sharp pain in his back.

Bernard Horne, defending, said there was bad blood between Muir and Mr Shah because of the aggrieved’s dogs which were large and vicious and out of control.

“He wasn’t the only person to have complained about the behaviour of the dogs and the way they were controlled,” said Mr Horne.

He said on the day of the incident Muir had been to a funeral and had been drinking when he received a call from his partner to say the dogs were out again and one of them was in their back yard.

“He came home and armed himself with the air rifle and the knife, not for the owner but for the dogs,” said Mr Horne.

The court also heard that Muir had assaulted Paul Slater, the ex-partner of Muir’s girlfriend.

Muir had gone to his home, asked could he have a word but when Mr Slater stepped outside he was attacked without warning.

Muir punched him repeatedly about the head and face before stepping back.

He then resumed the attack swinging another four or five punches. Mr Slater suffered a cut to his forehead, a gash below his left eye, extensive bruising and several of his teeth were loose.