MANCHESTER computer expert has told of his terror after he was gunned down in a gangland-style shooting in Spain.

Mark Stuttard was visiting his sister Karen and her doctor husband at their home on the Costa del Sol when they were targeted by two hitmen.

One of the men shot Mr Stuttard's Italian brother-in-law Umberto Borsani twice in the legs at close range as he unloaded suitcases from his car.

The gunman then walked up to Mark and shot him twice in the leg. Both men have been treated in hospital.Police believe the men were the victims of mistaken identity.

Mr Stuttard, 31, said the attack took place within hours of him flying to visit his sister in Nueva Andalucia, near Marbella, to celebrate her 41st birthday.

Karen has settled down in the area and runs a GP clinic with her 41-year-old husband.

Mr Stuttard said: "When we got there I saw two men standing in the parking area talking.

Bangs

"Umberto got out of the car to get my bags from the boot and I got out and was helping my sister out of the back seat. As I did so, I saw one of the men come up very close behind Umberto, then I heard two bangs and he fell to the ground. The gunman was so close he could have killed him if he wanted to.

"At that point my thoughts switched to my sister. The car is a two-door so I held the front seat down so that she could not get out.

"The man with the gun then came around the car, seemed surprised to see me, looked me up and down then he shot me twice before firing again as he ran off. He couldn't have been more than a metre away." Mr Stuttard, who lives in a Manchester city centre apartment, added: "It is all a bit crazy, no motive, no warning, no message."

"The police said it looked like some kind of gangland thing as the area has a bit of a reputation for that kind of thing."

One of the bullets hit Mr Stuttard near his left knee and another struck him higher in the same leg. The bullets passed straight through his leg and out the other side.

Doctors have told him he has had a lucky escape because one of the bullets passed very close to a main artery.

He said: "At first I didn't know what had happened. It was only when I looked down and saw my jeans covered in blood that I realised I had been shot.