A teenager who took a man’s eye out with a slingshot when he was told to stop shooting at seagulls outside a McDonald’s has been jailed for two years.
James Bower, 19, was seen pulling up at the fast food restaurant in Morecambe, Lancashire and winding down the window of the white van he was driving.
Another man, who was outside the restaurant, said he saw Bower taking shots at the birds and confronted him, saying: ‘How would you like it if I did that to you?’
An argument broke out between them, with Bower saying the seagulls would steal his food, a court heard.
The man stood on a table, but Bower repeatedly fired ball bearings from the catapult.
One hit the window of the restaurant, causing it to break, and another struck the man in the eye.
Bower was captured on mobile phone footage laughing, Preston Crown Court heard.
As a result of the incident in November 2024, the 33-year-old victim has lost sight in his eye and expects to have surgery to remove it.
James Bower, 19, fired ball bearings from a slingshot after a row at a McDonald’s in Morecambe, Lancashire in November 2024, causing a man to lose an eye
A judge told Bower he had deliberately used a slingshot (file picture) to fire projectiles towards someone’s face, saying she had no choice but to jail him
He is unable to work and is not sure whether he will be able to work in the future.
In a pre-sentence report, Bower, whose address was given as a traveller camp in North Yorkshire, said he took offence at comments made by the man about his heritage.
He pleaded guilty to section 20 wounding, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage to the window.
The court heard he had an unstable background and no real education and did not anticipate the consequences of his actions when he fired the slingshot.
Sentencing him, Recorder Emma Fisher said: ‘It might be a one-off and it might be an aberration, but you deliberately fired a projectile towards a person and that person has lost their sight and possibly their eye.
‘One can only imagine how traumatic this has been for him.
‘Few of us can imagine the possibility of having one of our eyes removed.
‘Actions have consequences.
The argument erupted at a McDonald’s in Morecambe, Lancashire (pictured)
‘Such an impact, notwithstanding your mitigation, means appropriate justice can only be achieved by immediate custody.’
She sentenced Bower to two years in a young offenders institution.
Throughout the hearing, Bower sat with his head in his hands as his aunt sobbed from the public gallery.