Gosport girl, 10, left screaming in agony with 'gaping hole' in head and 'puddle of blood' after being struck by a BB gun pellet

Dad Ashley Parkes, 32, rushed into his back yard in Williams Close, Rowner, after hearing his 10-year-old daughter Lilly crying out in pain after being left with a ‘gaping hole’ in her scalp.

The parent saw four youths running from fields that back onto their garden on Monday when the incident happened around 10.15am as Lilly was on the trampoline with her one-year-old sibling.

Now Ash wants to find those responsible and has launched a social media appeal after saying his daughter - who needed stitches at Gosport War Memorial Hospital - had a ‘lucky escape’.

Ash told The News: ‘Lilly heard a loud pop and felt an impact to the back of her head. I heard her screaming and ran into the garden where there was a puddle of blood. She had a gaping hole in her head.

‘I saw four teenagers running across the field. They obviously saw her head popping up and down on the trampoline and have taken a lucky shot.

‘Luckily she was not facing out to the field otherwise she could have been hit in the eye.

‘My daughter had a lucky escape. I don’t want to think what could have happened.’

Ash said the teenagers - thought to be aged from about 14 to 17 years - were all wearing black tracksuits and had short brown hair. The youth running off holding the weapon was wearing white trainers and a puffer jacket.

Police have been contacted and are said to be investigating the incident.

Ash hopes the public can help to track them down but admitted it is like ‘finding a needle in a haystack’.

‘My wife and myself are mortified that people would shoot someone, especially when it is a child,’ he said.

‘If they are willing to put a bullet in a child’s head then I can’t imagine what they would do to animals or other people.’

Speaking of the impact on Lilly, Ash said: ‘She is still traumatised and has not stepped near the back door since it happened.

‘She needed a bandage around the head where she had stitches. The hole was the size of a fingernail with blood gushing out and all over her hands.’

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Ash added: ‘If anyone can give the police any information so we can get justice for what happened we would be very grateful.’

A police spokesman said: ‘We have received a report of a girl being assaulted.

‘She had suffered a minor injury after being hit in the back of the head by a pellet from BB or air gun.’

Anyone with information should call 101, quoting the reference 44220072304.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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