A FATHER who planned to kill himself with his sawn-off shotgun at a remote countryside spot has been jailed for five years.

Paul Moylon called police to tell them he was going to commit suicide with the weapon, prosecutor Sarah Waters told Newport Crown Court.

He had informed the authorities he was going to end his life because he didn’t want to put a member of the public through the trauma of finding his body.

Armed police and other officers were scrambled to Llangynidr in the Powys countryside around nine miles from the defendant’s Ebbw Vale home on April 24.

The court heard how they found Moylon unconscious inside his Audi car after he had taken a cocktail of drugs and alcohol in a suicide bid with the gun next to him.

The 43-year-old, of Attley Close, Garnlydan, was rushed to hospital where medical staff saved his life.

Laurence Jones, mitigating, said his client had first armed himself with the sawn-off shotgun after he and his family were targeted in a petrol bomb attack at their home in December 2016.

The court was told how inflammable liquid was poured through their letterbox and set on fire before his children put the blaze out.

His barrister said this led to his client “changing his outlook” on life and he began to develop “suicidal thoughts”.

The court was told Moylon was given the gun by his farmer stepfather and fired it once in Llangynidr but buried it along with its ammunition because it had “scared” him.

The defendant pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon under the Firearms Act, which carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence.

He also admitted possession of ammunition without a certificate and driving whilst disqualified.

Judge Christopher Vosper QC said to Moylon that the arson attack on him and his family two years ago must have been a “frightening and disturbing experience”.

He said he had “great sympathy” for him but added that he had to send him to prison for five years under the strict sentencing guidelines for the possession of a prohibited weapon.

The judge said: “I am sorry for that sentence, I really am, but I see no alternative.”

Moylon was told he would have to serve half that term before being released on licence.

He was also given concurrent terms of six months for possession of ammunition without a certificate and four months for driving whilst disqualified.

Moylon was banned from driving for three-and-a-half years and must pay a victim surcharge.

The public gallery was full of the defendant's family and he wished his son a happy 18th birthday before he was led to the cells.