Dancing man jailed for shooting teenager in head

LONDON (Reuters) - A man who shot a teenage girl in the head while he was dancing about with a gun in his hand was jailed for eight years on Friday.

Wayne Bryan, 20, was with a group of friends at a house in Gorton, Manchester, in June when he accidentally shot the 16-year-old girl.

The victim, Sophie Finucane, who was enjoying a sleepover party with friends at her house, was given just 40 minutes to live after bullet fragments lodged in her brain, the Press Association reported.

She survived but is still unable to walk, has lost the use of her right arm, her vision is damaged and she suffers seizures. She will never make a full recovery.

Bryan, Finucane and another man had been downstairs in the house after their other friends had gone to bed or gone home.

Bryan, who prosecutors said was drunk and had been smoking cannabis all day, told police he found the gun in a bag in the corner of the room and began dancing with it.

It went off, with the bullet hitting Finucane in the head. Bryan fled the house and went home where he raised the alarm.

Although he said he had no involvement with guns, detectives found an image on his phone showing him holding a revolver.

At an earlier hearing at Manchester Crown Court, he admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm, possessing a firearm, possession of an imitation firearm and two counts of possession of ammunition.