Girl, 11, shot in France pictured as relative says she 'didn't stand a chance'

A girl who was shot dead in France has been pictured as her grandad said she 'didn't stand a chance' when her killer opened fire.

Solaine Thornton, whose parents are from Oldham, was shot while playing on a swing in her garden during a barbecue at her home in the village of Saint-Herbot, near Quimper, Brittany, on Saturday night. An elderly neighbour allegedly opened fire at her and her sister Celeste, eight, with a shotgun through a hedge, it is reported.

The suspect, a 71-year-old Dutchman, is reported to have been in a long-running row with the family over a plot of land beside their properties. Carine Halley, the state prosecutor in Quimper, said Solaine was dead when police arrived.

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Celeste was left in 'shock', local media reported, while her father Adrian, 52, was left fighting for his life on Monday after being 'hit in the head' during the terrifying attack in their own garden. Solaine's grandfather Irvin Thornton told the MailOnline of his sorrow for the family, saying he was unsure how Celeste would ever get over what happened.

She is reported to have run away screaming 'my sister is dead, my sister is dead' in the moments after the attack as the gunfire then turned on her parents, the Mirror reports. Describing the family's reaction to the tragedy, the grandad said: "We don't know exactly what has gone on.

"We didn't know anything about a dispute. How can a 71-year-old man shoot a little girl?

"There might have been dispute over land but you do not do that. She didn't stand a chance."

Marguerite Bleuzen, Mayor of Plonévez-du-Faou, which covers Saint-Herbot, revealed that there had been 'some trouble with a neighbour dispute' between