The former girlfriend of a man jailed for accidentally shooting a shop worker with a BB gun today said she was shocked by the sentence.

Charity volunteer Darren Brakes, 42, was jailed for two months after admitting culpably and recklessly discharging a BB gun in Lothian Road last August. Brakes, described as a "gentle, tree-hugging hippy", claimed he was messing about with the toy gun in Natasha Browning's fourth-storey flat when the shot was fired.

A pellet flew out of the window and struck toy shop worker Stephen Watt as he smoked a cigarette across the road outside the Wonderland store.

He reported the incident to police, although he admitted he barely felt the plastic pellet strike him on the chest and suffered no injuries. Officers traced the shot back to Brakes and he was subsequently charged. The charity worker lives in Cornwall, where he owns two donkeys and takes disabled children for rides.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard yesterday that a back injury which prevented him from getting a full-time job made him unsuitable for community service.

But he was left devastated when Sheriff Kathrine Mackie insisted a fine was not appropriate and ordered him to serve two months in prison.

Looking stunned as he was led away, he was heard passing on instructions to his solicitor to ensure his donkeys were fed.

Miss Browning, 22, claimed the whole incident had been the result of an accident and said he had been told to expect community service or a fine.

And she admitted she was concerned about how he would cope in prison.

"He really is just a kind, gentle, tree-hugging hippy and I was just shocked when I heard he had been sent to jail over this," she said.

"He was up visiting me over the festival and we were just playing about with this £4 toy gun we had bought to use as a prop in a play. He was trying to get it to work and accidentally fired a pellet out of the window. I don't know how it made it across the road, but later on the police stormed the flat and arrested him. He pled guilty, because he did pull the trigger, but he never expected to be jailed for this, and I think it's a disgrace.

"I'm really concerned for him as he is such a gentle person and I don't know how he will cope in a Scottish prison. He didn't want me to go to court, but he had said he would come and see me after his appearance, and when he didn't show up I was really frantic. When I found out he had been taken to jail I just couldn't believe it."

Brakes admitted the charge last month and sentence was deferred until yesterday for the preparation of reports.

Sheriff Mackie said: "Fortunately no one was injured but there is potential for serious harm. I am sure it hasn't escaped your notice the incidents that have arisen from these so-called toys.

"I have no alternative but to sentence you to two months in prison."

Brakes has two minor unrelated convictions in England previous to this case.

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