A WEALTHY businessman who shot a girl in the neck with a high-powered air rifle has been ordered to pay her thousands of pounds in compensation.

The teenager was with a group of friends travelling in separate cars when they strayed on to Dominic Blanchard’s land at night.

He confronted them, wielding the gun.

The 41-year-old of Clay Lane, Market Weighton, who said he used the air rifle to scare them off, received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after a judge ruled he had not intended to fire directly at the group.

Sheffield Crown Court was told that the cars carrying the teenagers, aged 16 and 17, had taken a wrong turn and they were attempting to turn around on the private Clay Lane at about 10.45pm.

Blanchard fired two shots. An airgun pellet struck a 17-year-old girl in the neck, close to her main artery, while a second shot damaged the inside of one of the cars.

The girl underwent surgery to remove the pellet from her neck at York Hospital, but has been left with a three-inch scar.

Blanchard, who runs a sales business specialising in Land Rover parts based in Clay Lane, pleaded guilty to wounding and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear on June 15.

Judge Roger Keen QC ordered Blanchard to pay £9,500 to his ten victims, with £5,000 going to the injured girl and £500 each to the others.

Of that, £5,000 must be paid by December 25, with the rest paid by the following month.

The victim’s mother, who cannot be named, said: “He could have killed my daughter.” Blanchard was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, and was given a three-month curfew which means he must remain in his home every night between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

Judge Keen said Blanchard’s behaviour was “totally inappropriate” and “frightening”.

The court heard that his company could not function if he went to prison, and five employees would lose their jobs.