A man who asked his friend to test out a "bulletproof vest" has been jailed after accidently shooting him dead.
Lorry driver Ian Catley went to his local pub to ask his friends if they were willing to wear the jacket, which he had recently bought, and be fired at with a shotgun.
One of them flatly refused to help but, after a few drinks, 47-year-old Philip Harper agreed to test it in a nearby field in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire.
But Southwark Crown Court heard that second-hand jacket was not bulletproof at all, and merely "protective".
Instead of stopping the shotgun pellet, the plastic casing served to funnel the spray into the centre of Mr Harper's chest, slicing an artery.
Despite Catley's desperate attempts to save his friend's life before driving him to hospital, Mr Harper could not be saved.
"You shot Mr Harper at a distance of less than 20 feet, causing him catastrophic injuries and immediate death," Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC told Catley.
"You then, straight away, took him to hospital but tragically, nothing could be done to save his life."
Catley stared straight ahead in the dock as the sentence came down, while his mother appeared to fight back tears from the public gallery.
He was jailed for seven years over the killing last June after admitting manslaughter.
The court heard Catley, 40, had nightmares about what he had done.
"Your remorse is complete and genuine," the judge said.
"You recognise the magnitude of your actions and I have no doubt that the effects of killing your good friend will last with you for the rest of your life."
But he said Catley, as a gun licence-holder, had "manifestly breached those obligations and duties".
Defence barrister Mark McDonald argued that the killing was the result of a stupid and reckless act to which the "keen" Mr Harper had nevertheless consented.
The court heard that after leaving Rugby Trading International Ltd with his new vest, Mr Harper was "very proud of it".
"He'd gone to the pub that evening wearing that vest and indeed a SWAT cap," Mr McDonald said.
"After a drink or so, he asked more people, and Mr Catley agreed to do a stupid and undoubtedly reckless act."
The judge ordered that his gun be forfeited and destroyed.
Detective Inspector Ian Simmons, of Cambridgeshire Police, said: "This is a particularly sad case, where a foolish incident ended in tragedy."
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