A man was shot with a nail gun by his brother after secretly setting up a Black Country firm that competed against his family’s business, a jury heard.

Ricky Paskin, aged 34, was hit in the left hip at point blank range and needed surgery, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told yesterday.

The weapon had been deliberately fired at him by his 37-year-old brother Jason, it was alleged. Prosecutor Gareth Walters explained: “It did not go down very well when Ricky left his father’s business and set up in competition.

“That led to problems with the family and threats being made.”

He established a rival to Paskin Pallets of Peartree Lane, Dudley, behind their backs just four miles away and undercut them using a list of customers copied from their computer, it was claimed.

Violence flared when Jason Paskin visited the rented industrial unit in Pensnett two months after the business launched, shooting his brother and beating up another worker, alleged Mr Walters.

Ricky Paskin told the jury: “Jason just walked up to my employee Lance Bloomer, punched him two or three times on the back of the head and told him to leave which he did.

“Jason told me to put the kettle on and I thought he had calmed down but he boiled over again and drove a forklift truck over my toes which were protected by the steel caps on my boots. Then he went to fetch the nailgun I used for work, put the nail gun against my side and fired. I said: ‘You have just shot me.’ He replied: ‘I don’t care.’ I was hit on the left hip. It felt like a sharp pinch.

“I phoned 999 on my mobile and chased after him as he took the nail gun towards his car. We had a fight on the floor. He put me in a headlock and tried to suffocate me.”

A recording of the interrupted 999 call was played to the jury. Ricky Paskin could be heard frantically telling the operator: ‘I have just been attacked with a nail gun.’ The nail was removed at Russells Hall Hospital.

Jason Paskin, from Brackendale Drive, Walsall, denies wounding his brother and assaulting Mr Bloomer.

The trial continues.