An ex-fireman told today how he battled to save a man whose face had been blasted away with a shotgun, writes Rebecca Smith.

Roger Bartlett, 46, who lives near Didcot, held the man's head and forced his fingers down his throat to keep him alive after what may have been a gangland drug shooting.

Mr Bartlett was drinking at a friend's pub at Shepton Mallet, Somerset, when three men ran in saying a man had been shot.

Mr Bartlett, who served in the Oxfordshire Fire Service for 22 years, rushed outside and saw the man holding a towel to his face. He was having trouble breathing.

Mr Bartlett, who is married with five children, said: "The whole of the lower part of his face was missing. He was covered in blood. He had suffered horrific facial injuries. It was a case of keeping him going until the emergency services arrived - I just went into autopilot. I was alone with him for ten to 15 minutes. "I have seen this sort of thing in car accidents before but it was more difficult to treat him because he was conscious and kept fighting to get away. He was in deep shock.

"When the emergency services took over and air-lifted him away I went and had a big drink. I am not a hero - I would like to think someone would do the same for me.

"I hope it never happens again - I have never seen anyone alive with shotgun injuries like that. Every firefighter would have done what I did. It was a case of being in the right place at the wrong time.

"I don't know if I saved his life but his survival chances would have been less if I had not have done what I did. Just somebody being there who wasn't panicking certainly helped.

"The locals know that was a bad area for drugs and some said I would have been better if I left him. I don't like drugs but you don't think about that when someone needs your help."

Mr Bartlett retired from Oxfordshire Fire Service in 1991. He had been Leading Firefighter at Didcot. He now works as a specialist services officer at the Vale Housing Association, in The Vineyard, Abingdon.

The 36-year-old victim was airlifted to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where he is in a stable condition. A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said two men carried out the shooting, possibly linked to drugs.

Story date: Friday 11 February

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