Neighbour hit during rat shoot

A German man faces charges after his attempts to tackle a rat problem ended in disaster when he accidentally shot his neighbour.

Juergen Metzler, 56, from Huerth in North Rhine-Westphalia started shooting the rats from his back porch, but had not noticed his elderly neighbour, 79, pruning her roses.

One of the bullets ricocheted off a stone and hit the woman in the leg. She was taken to hospital where surgeons had to operate to remove the bullet.

Metzler now faces grievous bodily harm charges.

He said: "I had the beast in my sights but the bullet missed - it was an accident and I am very sorry for what happened - but there is no other way to deal with the rats."

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