James Davison, 46, shot his neighbour Stephen Stores with a .22 rifle through the abdomen.

Mr Stores was described by a doctor as being "lucky to be alive" after the bullet missed the artery in his spleen by two millimetres.

The court heard that Davison harboured an irrational grudge against his neighbour after the death of his parents.

Davison had lived with his parents until their death while Mr Stores, 44, lived with his wife Jean next door in Voltage Terrace, Philadelphia.
Mr Stores was shot after he noticed his garage door was open at 8pm on February 6 and went to investigate.

At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday the judge jailed Davison indefinitely for public protection after he had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to wounding with intent and possession of prohibited ammunition.

Tim Gittens, prosecuting, said: "Mr Stores opened his rear yard door to let his dog out when he noticed the side door to his garage was ajar. As he entered into the space in the doorway he was shot in the abdomen."

The court heard that the bullet caused serious injury to his liver, stomach and pancreas.

Mr Gittens told the court that the neighbours barely spoke, but each had complained about noise problems in the past.

Lee Fish, defending, said: "He blames Mr Stores for the death of his parents because of activities he perceived as a nuisance.

"That motivated this offence. He has by no means resolved the issues to the grief he has suffered.

"He is a loner who lost both his parents in the space of a year and irrationally sought someone to blame. Mr Stores was that person."

The court heard that Davison suffered from "schizoid" traits and also from and abnormal grief reaction.

He was jailed for eight years in 1990 at Newcastle Crown Court after robbing six banks in the space of one day by threatening staff he had a gun.