ARMED police were deployed in Southampton after innocent people were blasted with a high-powered air rifle, a court heard.

Four victims still have pellets in them after the drive-by shootings and two are lodged so close to the spinal area it has been decided to leave them undisturbed.

Two women and one man yesterday admitted their part in the drama and were put behind bars - one for 33 months and the other two for 30 months.

Prosecutor Tim Moores said: "The Crown says it does not matter who was driving the car, who was holding the rifle and who was sitting in the back of the car and passing the ammunition.

"After the first incident, all three accepted they knew what was going on and it was a joint enterprise.''

Southampton Crown Court was told the shootings happened after Samantha Brady, 25, and Nicola Kepple, 19, picked up Lee Cooper from a pub.

The first victim, Thomas Halman, was cycling home from work at about 5pm when he became aware of their white Golf car coming up behind him.

There was a bang and he felt a thump in his lower back as the pellet hit him. As the trio overtook, they were laughing.

A few minutes later Lawrence Allcock felt a sharp pain after he was shot in the lower back.

Mr Moores said: "He put his hand into his shirt and felt blood, and as the car accelerated away, he saw what appeared to be a barrel being pulled in from the rear window.''

There was a gap in the shootings after they returned to Kepple's home to take a dog to Bournemouth to be sold.

But at 9.30pm, Southampton General Hospital nurse Catherine Blunt was cycling in Winchester Road after finishing her shift when she felt a sharp stinging in her right buttock. She was then aware of a car passing her with a barrel protruding from a window.

In the next 30 minutes, shots were fired at three people in Northlands Road and in nearby Darwin Road but they missed.

The next victim, pedestrian Ian James , was blasted in Malmesbury Road. He was asked for directions and was shot in the chest. He was lucky because the pellet hit an eyelet in his anorak and it bruised him.

The last victim, Darren Wishart, was also shot from close range.

"He heard a loud bang and felt a sharp pain in his thumb which had blood pouring from it. The pellet went through his thumb and lodged in his thigh.''

The trio abandoned the Golf in Clover Nooke, Redbridge.

Mr Moores said armed police had been deployed. "It doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination to think of what might have happened if the armed police had stopped their car and found a rifle pointing out of the window. The consequences could have been serious, if not fatal.''

As a result of the shootings, Mr Halman had suffered post traumatic stress disorder and had to go on light duties after taking time off work.

Mr Allcock still suffered pain and had lost confidence and Mr Mena has suffered from stress headaches.

Brady, of Studland Close, Millbrook, was jailed for 33 months after admitting three counts of wounding, one of actual bodily harm and illegally possessing an air rifle.

Cooper, of Hillyfields, Nursling, and Kepple were each sent to a young offenders' institution for 30 months.

Cooper admitted two charges of attempted wounding, one of wounding and one of illegally possessing the weapon and Kepple pleaded guilty to three charges of wounding, one of causing actual bodily harm and one of illegally possessing the firearm.

Brady also asked for one offence of stealing a parrot from a garden centre to be considered.

Andrew Barnett, defending Brady, who had three previous convictions for assault, said the mother-of-two's offending had not been premeditated, but after the first shot had been fired, she did nothing to stop what was happening and didn't distance herself from the enterprise.

Tim Coombes, defending Cooper who owned the rifle and fired the first shot, said he had been caught up in "an enterprise of madness and was out of his depth'' in the situation.

Matthew Jewell, defending Kepple, said she had been described in the pre-sentence report as being easily led, with a limited understanding and low esteem, and easy to please.

"She has genuine remorse, and was horrified of what she has done and is anxious for that to be known to the victims.''