Hunter shoots his friend dead

A man hunting rabbits was accidentally shot dead when a friend tripped over and fell on his gun, police said today.

The victim, aged 30, was fatally injured in a farmer’s field on Friday night. He was walking through a gate when his friend stumbled behind him and fell on his gun, causing it to go off.

Police said he was killed at 9.30pm while “rabbiting with a colleague” at Brockton, near Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire. The two friends, believed to be from Lichfield, Staffordhire, were hunting with the landowner’s permission. A police spokesman said: “We are continuing to investigate the circumstances but at this stage it would appear to be a tragic accident.”