A father-of-three has been jailed for 10 years for killing a burglar who broke into his cannabis factory.

Raymond Andes, 39, from Plummer Road, Clapham, fired a single shot which struck 21-year-old Isaiah Bovell in the eye.

Sentencing at the Old Bailey today, Judge Peter Thornton said he was passing the "least" prison sentence for manslaughter.

He said: "I shall sentence you on the least sentence, namely that you shot to miss and that you hit Mr Bovell by accident.

"I do not, however, accept that you attempted to shoot the top of the window.

"It was unnecessary. You could have taken other action. You simply fired your gun and hit Mr Bovell.

"By your dangerous and unlawful action you took the life of a 21-year-old.

"Mr Bovell may have been a burglar but he did not deserve to die.

"You deprived his family of a loved one. His mother is understandably distraught at the loss."

Andes told the court he thought he was going to be tortured by the intruder, but was convicted by a majority verdict at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Following the verdict, Andes smiled at the public gallery as he was taken down.

Members of Mr Bovell's family were seen crying outside the courtroom.

On Friday, he was sentenced to 10 years for the manslaughter and handed a five-year jail term for firearm possession. He also received two years for cannabis cultivation - all three sentences are to run concurrently.

During the trial, the court heard Mr Bovell, from Brixton Hill, had gone to the defendants flat on April 14 this year with two other men.

He was killed as he tried to force entry to the ground-floor window.

The jury heard Andes recount how he heard at least two men, described by him as like "a pack of crazed animals", banging on his front door.

He told the court: "I walked down the corridor to the storage room, went to the cupboard, got the gun and got it ready.

"Then I heard the window smash so I went back to the bedroom, peeked round the corner of the wall and fired a shot. I did not want him to climb in but I thought they were armed."

Andes also said he was shot at by two youths the previous night, citing that as the reason why he shot Mr Bovell without warning him he had a loaded gun.

He told the court: "I was terrified at the time; I’ve heard stories of people being tortured to find drugs or money, so I tried to protect myself. I had been shot at the night before so I thought they had a weapon."

Earlier in the trial, the defendant said he would invite his children - now aged eight, 11 and 18 - to his house and show them his collection of air guns.

He hid a 9mm Belgian-made Browning gun, used to shoot Mr Bovell, in storage boxes. He admitted he was "foolish" to store the gun in the drawer, but said he was never concerned for the safety of his children.

Andes denied murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life but admitted cultivating cannabis.