A man who had been shot in the legs and doused with sulphuric acid, was calmly smoking a cigarette when paramedics found him, a murder trial jury heard yesterday.

Barry Selby, 50, was laid at the side of his bed and seemed to be calm and not in much pain, Bradford Crown Court was told.

But he died in hospital four days later after his vital organs failed.

The prosecution claims Mr Selby was murdered in an act of revenge or retaliation against his son Liam, who was a member of one of two groups of young men involved in a series of violent incidents on the Holme Wood estate in Bradford.

In a statement read to the jury, paramedic Michael Sugden told how he and a colleague were called to Barry Selby’s house in Rayleigh Street, East Bowling, shortly after 2am on Monday, October 14 last year, and found him laid down facing the bedroom door.

Mr Sugden said the patient’s back, from top to bottom appeared to be covered with a brown liquid. He could also see a deep hole to his right inner thigh, which he thought was a stab wound but later discovered was caused by a gunshot.

There was a smell of sulphur in the room and he realised the brown liquid was acid. Mr Selby’s breathing was normal but his blood sugar level was low and he gave him a glucose injection.

Mr Sugden said when they got the patient into the ambulance he complained of pain. “I was able to see acid was effectively burning through fatty tissues in his shoulders and upper arms.”

The paramedic said that throughout their treatment Mr Selby seemed calm but dazed and bewildered.

He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary but then transferred to a specialist unit at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, with 50 per cent acid burns.

The court heard Mr Selby had surgery on two occasions and initially there was an improvement in his condition, but then he deteriorated and died.

Lee Calvert, 23, of Stirling Crescent; Joseph Lowther, 22, of Copgrove Road; Andrew Feather, 23, of Heysham Drive all Holme Wood; and Robert Woodhead, 28, of Fred’s Place, Tyersal, all plead not guilty to Mr Selby’s murder. They also deny two firearms charges.

Calvert’s girlfriend, Natasha Wall, 24, of Stirling Crescent, pleads not guilty to perverting the course of justice.

The trial will continue on Tuesday.