Young farmer left with brain injury after shotgun explodes in his face

ABC Rural

Laurissa Smith

October 31,2015

Lloyd Polkinghorne's life changed forever on January 14, 2013.

"I'd be trailing a bird and I fired once and missed, and fired again," he said. "The gun exploded in my face."

He fell into the rice bay and dropped his gun.

The other rice growers he was shooting with pulled him out of the rice and retrieved the firearm.

The type of gun, an ATA 5-shot semi-automatic, is manufactured in Turkey and imported by Brisbane company Nioa Trading.

Two other growers have reported having similar issues with it.

"The actual bolt that holds the shell in place had a gap of about 2 millimetres where the explosion had come out, instead of going out the barrel," Mr Polkinghorne said.

After feeling dazed he went home to lie down, and it was not until some weeks later his condition deteriorated.

It was discovered Mr Polkinghorne had brain fluid leaking down the back of his throat, resulting in a month-long stay in Kerang Hospital, across the border in Victoria.

After several months of rest and a rice crop at his Moulamein property that needed harvesting, Mr Polkinghorne attempted to return to work on the farm.

But it soon became clear the work was too much.

"I'd end up having massive headaches and migraines, in a ball of sweat," he said.

"Just trying to do things that once came natural too me, I couldn't do at all."

Other growers say they had similar issues with gun

Mr Polkinghorne's uncle sent the gun back to Hunter Marine at Swan Hill in north-west Victoria, where it was purchased.

The business has declined to comment on the incident involving Mr Polkinghorne's firearm.

In December, Charles McDonald had a similar incident with the same model shotgun used by Mr Polkinghorne.

The rice grower at Barham, about 50 kilometres south of Moulamein, was also shooting ducks on his farm when the gun failed.

"I was shooting most of the evening, keeping the ducks off the rice, and probably on the third cycle of the 5-shot, same thing happened. It exploded or went off without the breech being properly closed," he said.

"Basically when the 5-shot cycles, the bolt goes back and forth and it shouldn't be able to fire until the locking arm on the side has closed.

"Obviously it's been, somehow or another, firing without the breech being fully closed and sending the impact of the shotgun shell out the side, instead of down the barrel."

Around the same time and on a separate farm at Barham, Peter Chalmers experienced a problem with his ATA 5-shot semi-automatic firearm.

"I was shooting ducks with my wife's uncle," Mr Chalmers said.

"He was driving and I was in the passenger seat and luckily I had the gun out the window when it went off.

"The same thing that happened to everyone else, the breech wasn't shut and as soon as you pulled the trigger, it shot out of the side of the gun.

"We inspected the gun and couldn't find anything wrong with it, and put another bullet through it and it did the same thing again."

Taking the complaint further

Mr Polkinghorne has since taken his complaint to New South Wales Firearms, the Department of Fair Trading, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

He was told by the ACCC that to have the gun tested for a safety product intervention, it would need to pass a financial review board.

"They basically told me that they would wait to see if there was anymore injuries," he said.

"I mean basically they're putting a price on people's lives, and the quality of their lives, for a gun that gives no warning that it's going to fail.

"But for the amount of guns out there that are in primary producer hands and people who control vermin, it's a bit of a worry."

The ACCC has told ABC Rural it has received one complaint about the firearm.

In a statement it also said:

"A recall may be undertaken where it is identified that use of a product, including foreseeable misuse, may be hazardous to consumers who use the product.

"Where products are intrinsically hazardous — for example a knife or a gun — the consideration is more detailed and may include making enquiries about manufacture, national and worldwide incidents, any instructions for safe use and maintenance requirements of the product.

"Depending on the outcome of those enquiries, testing may be conducted."

Forced to put farm on market

Now 31, Mr Polkinghorne has been forced to put his farm on the market.

"In the last six months I've been losing my short term memory. I've tried to go to Kerang and ended up in Swan Hill," he said.

"It's a bit concerning if this is two and a half years on and I'm going backwards.

"I don't know where I'll be in another two years."

Mr Polkinghorne said he was pursuing legal action against the importer of his firearm, Nioa Trading, and reseller, Hunter Marine.

Nioa Trading was contacted for comment but ABC Rural is yet to receive a response.

Hunter Marine declined to comment.