Boy loaded two cartridges into gun and was seconds away from opening fire but instead called 999, court hears

A teenager who smuggled a shotgun into school but backed out of carrying out an indiscriminate mass shooting has been given a six-year custodial sentence.

Warwick crown court heard that the 15-year-old boy was seconds away from opening fire after loading two cartridges into the gun and putting in ear defenders, but instead dialled 999.

The youth, who cannot be named, was arrested by police at Higham Lane school in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, in June after breaking down the weapon.

The court heard that a 999 call handler averted disaster by questioning the boy about his mental state and instructing him to disassemble the double-barrelled gun and place it outside the room he was in.

As well as pleading guilty to having the gun with intent to endanger life, the youth admitted possessing 200 rounds of ammunition with intent to endanger life, and possession of a lock-knife.

The judge, Andrew Lockhart QC, was told that the youth took the gun from a secure cabinet where it was legally stored by a relative and hid it in his trousers as he walked to school.

The judge accepted the boy was suffering from depression, an anxiety disorder and feelings of hopelessness, which he had not shared with anyone.

He told the youth: “In interview, you were frank and told the police that you took the gun to school that day intending to harm people. At that time you were in a room, angry to the point of being prepared to use serious and lethal force, armed with a loaded shotgun and 200 cartridges.

“You had a face covering and a knife and you were making yourself ready to shoot at anyone. All who might have been a target would have been wholly innocent victims without any argument with you.”

He continued: “Had you begun to shoot, I have no doubt serious injury and death would have resulted and it is impossible for me to predict how many might have been hit. The event was, on your own admissions made at the time, just a moment away.

“A moment in time separated the pupils and staff of this school from being the subject of a terrible event and a shooting that would have taken a dreadful place in the history of truly wicked crimes committed in this country.”

The judge, who sat in the body of the court rather than at his bench as he passed sentence, said of the offence: “Even if it was a cry for help, it could have been so very different. Despite your age, your offence is so serious that nothing but a substantial custodial sentence can be justified.”

Delroy Henry, defending, told the court the boy was receiving ongoing support, including from mental health teams, with a view to rehabilitation.

He said: “This was a relatively self-contained incident. It started with a loss of good sense but it ended because of him, because he called the police and they gave him instructions to disarm himself and he followed those instructions to the letter.”

The boy was told he would serve up to half of his sentence in custody before being released on licence for the remainder.