A TAXI driver shot in the stomach by suicidal Richard Horrex told last night how he has been left scarred for life.Paul Carlton, who drives for Newtax Taxis in Newmarket, said his main concern during the incident had been protecting other people - but added he could have been killed had the pellet hit him elsewhere.

THE taxi driver who was shot in the stomach by Richard Horrex told last night how he has been left scarred for life.

Paul Carlton, who drives for Newtax Taxis, said his main concern during the incident had been protecting other people - but added he could have been killed had the pellet hit him elsewhere.

“If the pellet had hit me in the temple, I could have died and if it had hit in the eye, I could have been blinded. That was on my mind a lot after the incident,” he said.

“On the day of the incident, I had stopped at some traffic lights when I saw a man leaning out of the window.

“He fired at my window, so I pulled over to ask what he was doing.

“When the pellet hit me, I jumped back into my car. I looked down and saw a hole in my T-shirt and as I pulled it, the pellet came out of the wound.

“I lifted up my T-shirt and saw that the pellet had split open my stomach, bursting open my belly like a split jelly.”

Mr Carlton, from Newmarket, took a week off work following the incident and needed butterfly stitches to treat the wound in his stomach.

“The wound has left a scar which will be there for the rest of my life, but the incident was too quick to be frightening,” he said.

“My main concern was trying to keep other people away. While he was interested in me and firing at my car, he wasn't firing at anybody else, so I tried to let him use the car as target practice rather than picking on other people.

“But although I could warn people going towards him at my end of the street, I couldn't warn those on the other side, which made me feel helpless.”

Mr Carlton added: “The incident shook me up and although it happened in the daytime, I feel a bit more wary and am more careful at nights. This has not stopped me driving.

“But I am not happy or sad he has been given three years. I don't know if a guy with obvious problems deserves to be locked away unless he is going to be dealt with properly.”