An iPhone saved the life of a man blasted by BMW dealer David Richards after a faulty pump action shotgun went off at a clay pigeon shooting event.

The 44-year-old May Hill car dealer told the court that he had not pulled the trigger at the shoot in Longhope, on November 27 last year.

But he pleaded guilty to unlawfully wounding Graham Wheeler, 56-year-old Trudi Chinn, and Paul Murray, 40, after the prosecution accepted a faulty pin mechanism was to blame.

Retired factory health and safety officer Mr Wheeler, 69, told the court the phone in his shirt chest pocket protected the vital area of his heart.

But he still has 140 pellets lodged in his left arm and chest because doctors think it's safer to leave them there.

"Your iPhone saved your bacon?" asked Judge Jamie Tabor QC.

"Yes, it absorbed a lot of the pellets and left a nice little black patch on my chest," replied Mr Wheeler. "The phone was completely destroyed."

Mrs Chinn, 56, has one pellet lodged in her head and her hearing has been badly affected.

Richards, of Glasshouse Hill Cottage, was originally charged with wounding Mr Wheeler with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm and unlawfully wounding two others

But the Gloucester BMW dealer entered the pleas after Judge Jamie Tabor QC indicated he would not pass an immediate jail term.

Judge Tabor said Richards, who had been drinking heavily the day before, was probably suffering from a hangover when he broke the golden rule – that you only point shotguns at the ground or the target.

But he added: "He was doing it carelessly. He had no reason at all to expect the gun to go off as it did.

"What is plain is that this was a dreadful accident. It was one for which he was immediately remorseful. It was caused by a defective weapon which he could not have known was defective."

He bailed Richards until December 21 for a pre-sentence report.

Defence barrister Kannan Siva said Richards was of good character and added: "His only conviction is for driving while over the limit on this day. He did not drink on the day itself, it was on the previous day in a weekend which was the worst weekend of his life.

"He was probably at the lowest ebb he has known in his 44 years."

Outside court Mr Wheeler shook hands with Richards but said: "The fact I have recovered and that he is not going to jail doesn't alter the fact that he should never have pointed the gun in the direction he did."