Pellet gun victim to keep eyesight

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl hit in the face with pellets from a toy gun will not lose her eyesight or her eye as had earlier been feared, it emerged last night.

Her family now wants such guns banned.

Stephanie Keogh and her 10-year-old cousin, Kevin Doyle, had been in Courtown, Co Wexford, for the day on Sunday with Kevin’s mother, Lorraine.

They had been playing outside the Doyle home at the New Oak housing estate in Carlow town when at 11.30pm the 12-year-old was hit in the eye with pellets from a gun believed to have been fired by another teenage girl.

Stephanie’s cousin was hit by the plastic balls in the side of the head before the young girl was wounded in the right eye.

Last night, Lorraine Doyle, Stephanie’s aunt, said: “We want these guns banned, plain and simple. They are illegal and they should not be used. Stephanie is in an awful way and she’s very upset.

“We had a great Christmas and it’s terrible that she has ended up in the hospital for the New Year. The doctors are keeping her in for another few days and we won’t know the extent of the damage to her eye until the bleeding goes down.”

Gardaí were last night continuing to investigate the incident and urged parents with similar “toys” in their home to be extra vigilant. The toy replica handgun which was used in the incident was a popular Christmas present.

Gardaí in Carlow town were notified of the shooting on Sunday and carried out extensive investigations on Monday. They are treating the incident as a criminal matter.

The toy gun has been recovered by gardaí and has been sent to the technical bureau for examination. A garda spokesperson added that although the gun is a toy it is still classed as a fire-arm under the Offensive Weapons and Firearms Act and as such the matter was being investigated thoroughly by them.