Garage boss David Richards, who blasted three people with a pump action shotgun when he flouted the safety rule at a clay pigeon shoot, has walked free from court.

The 44-year-old, from May Hill, was more than twice the drink-drive limit when he pointed the gun towards two men and a woman who were standing on the other side of a hedge.

One of them, retired health and safety officer Graham Wheeler, 69, was saved by his iPhone, which was in his top pocket shielding his heart.

The phone was destroyed in the blast but he was still left with 140 other pellets embedded in his left arm, chest and body.

Richards, whose marriage had broken up the day before the incident, admitted unlawfully wounding Mr Wheeler, 56-year-old Trudi Chinn and Paul Murray, 40, at the event at Chesgrove Farm, Longhope on November 27 last year.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC said Richards was culpable because he had pointed the gun towards people when loading it – breaking the golden rule that a gun should always be pointed down at the ground or up to the sky except when aiming at a target.

BMW garage proprietor Richards was also culpable because of the alcohol still in his body after heavy drinking the day before the shooting, said the judge.

And, he said, Richards had aggravated the situation by using a gun which he already knew was faulty.

The judge sentenced Richards, of Glasshouse Hill Cottage, to 12 months' jail suspended for two years.

He also ordered him to do 200 hours of work and pay £2,500 prosecution costs.

And he placed Richards under a curfew on Friday nights from 8pm-6am, Saturdays from 3pm to midnight and Sundays from 9pm-5am. The six months curfew would punish rugby fan Richards by preventing him from watching Gloucester's games, he said.

At the start of the hearing prosecutor Julian Kesner told the court: "He shot three people at a professionally run clay pigeon shoot but it should never have happened.

"Nor would it have happened if the defendant had followed the most basic rules."

"The golden rule is always to point the gun in a safe direction. You never point it at someone, whether it is loaded or unloaded."

Mr Kesner said the three victims were 15 feet from Richards behind a hedge.

After the shooting Richards apologised to the victims but then left the site and was later arrested at Highnam Woods, where he was found to have a blood-alcohol reading of between 187-330 mgs. The legal limit for driving is 80mgs.

Mr Kesner said experts had tested the Beretta pump action gun to see if the could make it go off without the trigger being pulled but they had failed. However, they did find that the firing pin sometimes made light contact with a cartridge when it was being loaded.

"Mr Richards said the gun had gone off before when loading a cartridge into the breach," Mr Kesner said. "This means that he was effectively using a gun he knew was faulty."

The life of Mr Wheeler, of Stinchcombe, had not been the same since the shooting, Mr Kesner said. He suffered constant pain in his left forearm as well as a feeling of deadness and coldness and because of nerve damage he has to do regular exercises to keep his wrist from seizing up.

Mrs Chinn still has pellets embedded in her head and has suffered deafness and tinnitus, added Mr Kesner.

Mr Murray had pellets lodged in his left arm, chest and mid thigh.

Judge Tabor said he had read references for Richards which showed him to be a well thought of and hard working businessman.

Kannan Siva, defending, said Richards had already been sentenced for drink driving after the shooting and had undergone a driver rehabilitation course. He had been so impressed with it that he now advises others to take it and he stresses to his employees the dangers of driving the morning after drinking.

Richards had been 'absolutely gutted' by the injuries he caused to his victims and he had been 'humbled' by their forgiveness, said Mr Siva. At the last hearing Mr Wheeler and Ms Chinn had both shaken hands with him when he apologised.

"He was a man whose family had literally fallen apart within 48 hours before this event," Mr Siva said. "He was not himself that weekend."

Richards was unlikely to be allowed to own a shotgun again and the case had already cost him £9,000 in Legal Aid contributions, he said. He was also facing civil injury compensation claims.

Passing sentence Judge Tabor said: "He broke the golden rule, he was at the very least feeling hung over, and he was using a gun he knew was defective. He nearly killed three people. There must be punishment for this act of gross negligence."