Ex-army sniper jailed for shooting people with air rifle in Boston

Ruslanas Solovjovas, 39, was jailed for 14 months on Friday after he admitted firing pellets from a flat in the former Wellington pub building in the Frieston Road area of Boston.

Lincoln Crown Court heard five people were injured after Solovjovas targeted passers-by and shoppers on a quiet Sunday morning.

One mother needed hospital treatment after suffering a hole in her right leg from a pellet and a man was left with blood on his back.

Solovjovas was arrested after armed police swooped on the area. He told officers he was “Jesus Christ” and also claimed that he had been a sniper in his own country.

The court heard Solovjovas was clearly drunk and had been bingeing on vodka after as splitting up with his partner.

Investigations showed Solovjovas had served as a sniper in the Lithuanian Army while doing his national service.

Solovjovas, of Wellington Cottages, Vauxhall Road, Boston, admitted five charges of assault on 13 November.

Passing sentence Judge Michael Heath told Solovjovas he had used innocent members of the public for “target practice.”