SHOT TODDLER REMAINS CRITICAL

Rashid Rullah was playing with his five-year-old sister in the family's garden in Washwood Heath, Birmingham, on Sunday evening while their father Bakht Zaman used the air rifle for target practice.

But shortly before 7pm, the 29-year-old handyman turned his back on the children at the family's terraced house in Bennetts Road to answer his mobile phone, the boy's grandfather Bakht Rammand said.

As Mr Zaman did so, he left the gun loaded in preparation for his next shot.

Mr Rammand said it was then the boy's sister Asna Almas picked up the gun and accidentally shot the toddler in the back of the head.

On Monday night, surgeons were still unable to operate on the boy at Birmingham's Children's Hospital, where he remained unconscious.

West Midlands Police said the boy's condition remains critical.

A spokesman for the hospital confirmed that the boy was still being treated there, but said he was unable to give further details of his condition.

Mr Rammand, 48, said on Monday: "Everybody's in shock. There are no words to describe it really. The whole road loves them.

Det Insp Simon Vowles of West Midlands Police said: "While we are still trying to establish precisely what happened, this does appear to be a tragic accident involving young children."