Three huntsmen shot in Carnanton Estate pheasant shoot accident

One man was shot through the eye and two others seriously injured during a pheasant shoot.

The men were injured by shotgun fire on the 1,500-acre Carnanton Estate near Newquay in Cornwall on Thursday, organisers confirmed.

The three were airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth said police, who are investigating.

The Duchy Working Gundog Club, which held the event, described the injuries as "upsetting".

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All three, who were part of the shooting party, had been discharged from hospital said a spokeswoman for the club formed in 1995 as a "training club" for working gundogs.

Stu Young, said his father Paul Young, 67, was shot in the eye.

He said his father and two other men had been walking behind the row of guns when they were hit.

The gunman who hit the men had turned around and shot behind him, said Mr Young.

His father, from the New Forest in Hampshire, "could easily have been killed", he said.

"All he can see in that eye is a black blob.

"The pellet is right next to his brain but the surgeons decided it would be safer to leave it in rather than risk damage to the brain," he said.

His father was discharged from hospital on Sunday evening.

Mr Young said his father did not blame the organisers of the event.

Inquiries were under way to assess if there there were any criminal actions involved, a police spokesman said.

An estate spokesman said: "We allow the club to use the estate but no-one from the estate was present."

He declined to comment further.