PATRICK Duker was walking along a dimly lit road to his Breightmet home, minding his own business, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg.

He looked down and was horrified to see blood pouring out of a wound on his leg.

The teenager had been shot by a hidden sniper, who has never been caught.

Doctors at the Royal Bolton Hospital had to leave the pellet in his leg, fearing its removal would cause muscle damage.

He is still waiting to have the piece of metal that is lodged in his thigh removed, nine months after the incident.

Now, Patrick's mother, Julia, is joining the Bolton Evening News to support an MP's campaign to change the law on the use of airguns.

Jonathan Shaw, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, is fighting to raise the age for airgun use from 14 to 17, and prohibiting the use among 17-year-olds unless supervised by a person over 21. Mrs Duker, of Somerton Road, said: "I am backing this campaign 100 per cent. Airguns should only be used by over-18s. People should have a licence and use them in a responsible place or at a club."

Bolton South-east MP Dr Brian Iddon is in favour of increasing the age of use to at least 16.

He said: "I am becoming increasingly concerned. Many guns are now being doctored, making them much more dangerous.

"The message is clear. If people use these airguns in an inappropriate manner, they run the risk of them being banned completely."

Dr Iddon also added that it was the responsibility of parents to ensure that children who use airguns know how to use them safely. A private members bill on the matter, that Mr Shaw sponsored, has failed. He has now tabled an Early Day Motion calling for a change in the minimum age for airgun use.

However, those in support of the use of airguns are against the changing of legislation. Ian Kirby, from Target Sports, on Halliwell Road, said that there are regulations in place and a sensible gun shop should abide by these.

Menace of the airgun

THE Bolton Evening News has reported a number of incidents involving the misuse of airguns, by both youngsters and adults:

In June, 43-year-old Simon Lee, formerly from Horwich, was found guilty of attempted murder after shooting his wife Caron in the head and neck following an argument. In police interviews, Lee said he had no idea the gun, normally used for shooting rabbits, was loaded.

In October 2000, a Bolton mother-of-two underwent surgery after she was shot in the neck on the way home from a Robbie Williams concert. Michelle George, from Breightmet, received a deep wound in the nape of her neck after a man shot an airgun pellet at close range from a car.

Allan Derbyshire called for airguns to be outlawed after his 13-year-old son, Jason, was shot in the head last August. Jason had to have emergency surgery to remove the pellet which was fired as he and his friends played with a gun, thinking it was not loaded. Mr Derbyshire called for the laws to be changed, saying they should not be used by people under the age of 21.

Wildlife and animals have also been injured in airgun incidents. In June, two Canada geese in Horwich were shot by young thugs.

How the law currently stands

If you are under 14, you cannot buy, hire, be given or own an airgun or airgun ammunition. You can, however, use an airgun if you are supervised by someone over 21 and you do not shoot beyond the boundaries of where you are using it; or if you are a member of an approved club and you are using it for target practice at that club; or if you are at a shooting gallery.

If you are between 14 and 17 years of age, you can be given or lent an airgun or ammunition, but you cannot buy or hire them. You can carry an air rifle (but not an air pistol) in a public place if it is covered and securely fastened so that it cannot be fired. You can use an airgun at an approved club if you are a member of that club, and you can use an airgun at a gallery for airguns and miniature rifles.