Dad said he found “eight milly” in a pillow at a ket party and decided to shoot himself.

A father claimed he found a gun hidden in a pillow following a cocaine- and ketamine-fueled house party, then shot himself in the face.

Anthony McCall incredibly escaped with relatively minor injuries after putting an antique pistol in his own mouth. He then told the police officers, “I don’t know how I’m still alive boss.”

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday that Merseyside Police received information that a man with a gunshot wound to the mouth was seen outside an address on Derbyshire Hill Road in St Helens shortly before midday on February 19. this year. Officers attended the scene and found McCall, of Valiant Close, Croxteth, on nearby Ashtons Green Drive.

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Gerald Baxter, prosecuting, described the 36-year-old as “uncooperative” but added that he “clearly” had the facial injuries that were reported. He told the PCs, “The bullet hit me directly in the cheek.

“I don’t know how I’m still alive boss. I’m here with a bullet in my cheek.

“I was shot, yes. I was shot with an eight mily.”

However, McCall did not say when or how the incident occurred or if others were involved. He was taken to Aintree Hospital by ambulance with only a “small puncture in the area under his lower lip” and “many loose and dislocated teeth”, the bullet apparently lodged in his left cheek.

Owner Andrea Parr was later found cleaning up blood inside the property where the firearm had been discharged. Her daughter, Ellie Smith, had also been present at the time and told police that McCall had stayed there overnight before she and another man named Kaylyn visited a cafe for breakfast.

She and the defendant had then returned to her home in a taxi. The witness recalled being in the kitchen when she “heard a loud bang” and turned to see him injured and leaving the address.

The gun was later recovered from a garage behind the premises. It was described as a black FN Browning self-loading pistol dating from 1922, but was in “good condition” although a round had jammed in the chamber.

A magazine found near the gun contained six .32 caliber cartridges. McCall made no comment to detectives interviewed after his arrest.

He is banned from possessing any firearms for life due to a previous conviction for robbery which saw him jailed for five years in 2009. His criminal record also shows offenses of wounding, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, conduct of menacing, dangerous driving, aggravation. vehicle taking, interfering with a motor vehicle, theft, driving without pay, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, criminal damage, obstructing police, breach of court orders and failure to surrender to bail.

A charge of possession of a prohibited firearm usually results in a minimum sentence of five years. However, this can be avoided in “exceptional circumstances”.

Ian Whitehurst, defending, told the court: “What cannot be disputed in this case is that he did, in fact, shoot himself. The defendant stated that it was an attempted suicide, to be clear.

“The Crown said it was possible a tragic accident or something went wrong. In my opinion, there is no evidence to support this claim.

“The defendant was quite honest and open. He wanted to take his own life.

“It’s more likely than not that it was a suicide attempt. The tragic event that occurred on that day in question represents exceptional circumstances.”

McCall was called to testify on the issue during the hearing. Wearing a navy Trailberg top and jeans on the stand, the father-of-three swore to the Bible before telling the court he had been using cocaine for “just over a year and a half” and also used “bits and beans” of ketamine – causing him to rack up debts totaling thousands of pounds.

He added: “Obviously it was getting out of control and it was having an effect on me. The way I was thinking, stuff like that.”

McCall said he used the medication “every day except when I went to bed” and was “up for three or four days at a time.” The former roofer told the court that this prompted him to move out of the home he shares with his partner and children, after which he began “staying at my cousin’s and couch surfing, just hanging out wherever I could”.

Of the day of the shooting, he told the court: “There was a party the night before. It continued until the next day.”

McCall confirmed that he took cocaine and ketamine during the party and did not sleep afterward. Mr. Whitehurst asked him, “How were you feeling?”

He replied, “Disturbed. In a bad place.

“My life felt like it was in a downward spiral. It just got worse and worse.”

When asked when he “first came across the gun,” McCall said, “In the morning after we came back from the coffee shop. Probably about half an hour after that.”

He claimed he discovered the firearm “in a cushion on the sofa”, adding: “When I leaned on it I felt something on my back. I looked.

“I didn’t know what it was at first. I opened the bag, the transport bag.

“The gun was there. It was in a bag inside a pillow.

“I was surprised it was there. Because I was in a bad place, where I was, I thought this might be the chance to get me out of the mess.”

Mr Whitehurst asked: “Did you intend to take your own life with that firearm?”

McCall said, “Yes. I held it to my mouth and then pulled the trigger.

“I pulled it once. I realized I was still alive.

“I tried to pull it again and it didn’t work. I’m coming to my senses – what did I just do?

“I thought it was going to go in my mouth. Obviously it went under my chin.

“I was confused. I was in pain and my head was obviously everywhere.

“I was in shock. I was expecting to die, to be honest.”

McCall said he then “panicked” and left the gun “under big wooden boards” in the garage. Asked why he didn’t tell the police he shot himself, he replied: “I was ashamed.

“I’ve never been one to open things up. I still wasn’t thinking straight.

“My head was all over the place. That’s the only explanation I have, I felt embarrassed.”

McCall stated that he later underwent surgery to retrieve the bullet from his face. Under questioning, he said “a few other girls and a few other boys” were at the party.

Mr. Baxter asked him, “Did anybody have a gun?”

McCall replied, “No. I did not see him”.

Mr. Baxter continued: “Who had been sitting on that couch?”

McCall said: “I couldn’t tell you. A lot of different people.”

Mr Baxter: “Did someone say ‘what’s that in the pillow?'”.

McCall: “No.”

Mr. Baxter: “Was it your gun the whole time?”

McCall: “It wasn’t. No.”

Mr. Baxter: “Who could have brought a gun into that house?”

McCall: “I couldn’t tell you.”

Mr. Baxter: “A lot of people sat on that couch. No one complained about something sticking to their back and you just found it.”

McCall: “Yeah.”

Mr. Baxter: “What were you really doing with that gun?”

McCall: “I’m trying to kill myself.”

Mr. Baxter: “Or was it your gun? Did you look at it and it went off by accident?”

McCall: “No.”

Mr. Baxter: “What were you really doing with that gun?”

McCall: “I wasn’t doing anything with the gun. I came across the gun in the property and took the opportunity to end my life.

“I was in a downward spiral. I didn’t want to be in that life.

“I called numerous agencies to try to get help with my drug problem. No one answered me, my drug habit got worse and worse.”

McCall admitted possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a firearm when prohibited for life, possession of ammunition without a certificate and possession of ammunition when prohibited for life. He was jailed yesterday afternoon for five years and four months.

The weapon was also ordered to be confiscated and destroyed.

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