Jail for nailgun attack faker

A father has been jailed for shooting himself in the chest with a nailgun - so he could claim compensation.David Russell, 38, said he was left unable to work and struggling to provide for his six-month-old son after being shot seven times by a gang in the street on August 11.However, police became suspicious of his account of the attack and the telephone engineer from Gloucester later admitted wounding himself with the power tool.Russell, who pleaded guilty to two charges of perverting the course of justice, was sentenced by Judge Martin Picton at Gloucester Crown Court to two-and-a-half years in prison.The first charge relates to the August incident while the second charge relates to another faked nail gun attack which took place three years ago in Bristol in which he had claimed £4,400 compensation for his injuries.The prosecution said he had told the "most audacious of lies".Judge Jamie Tabor had ordered Russell to undergo psychiatric tests before the sentencing hearing.After the last incident, in August, Russell was left with five two-inch nails stuck in his ribcage - one an inch from his heart - and two more buried in his forearm.Russell, who also said he was forced to quit the Royal Marines after breaking both his ankles, claimed the attack took place on Sinope Street, Gloucester, as he walked to a cashpoint at an Asda store near his home.He claimed the gang, which he described as two black youths and a mixed-race man all aged in their late teens to early 20s, grabbed him from behind.Russell told how the mixed-race man "with a black and white bandana" pushed a ten-inch long orange and black nail gun against his chest and fired it repeatedly.The father of two said he stumbled backwards and swung for his assailant in self defence before two more nails were blasted into his arm.Russell said he tried to run after them but called 999 on his mobile after realising how severe his injuries were.By the time he had staggered the 70 yards back to his home on David Widden Street after the incident, the ambulance and police had already arrived.He was rushed to Gloucester Royal Hospital, where doctors performed an hour-long operation to remove the nails the following day. The nails hit his forearm with such force that the tips were bent as they hit the bone.Russell spoke to reporters from his hospital bed and said the attack was "like some kind of sick joke for these kids"."These people must be caught and punished. It could have been my wife with our baby or anyone else innocently minding their own business."I moved away from London to be away from all the violence and the gangs. But this just shows nowhere is really safe anymore. I'm deeply shocked."In the previous faked attack, he shot himself several times in his leg and body, claiming he had been set upon by thugs in the Easton area of Bristol.Russell, a self-harmer, had moved to the area 16 months earlier from Streatham, south London, to live with girlfriend Hayley Dyer, 28, her daughter Chloe, and their four-month-old son, Jed.He also admitted one unrelated charge of fraud by claiming on a job form that he had served in the Royal Marines for 18 years.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

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ITN | November 14, 2007

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