‘Model son’ who took shotgun to school to plot massacre freed on appeal

A TEENAGE boy who took a shotgun to school in preparation for a mass shooting has had his six-year sentence overturned after an appeal court judge said he is a “model son”.

The 15-year-old boy was jailed last September after a court heard he had been “moments away” from carrying out a school massacre after going to class with a shotgun, knife, balaclava and 200 rounds of ammunition.

But this week, Lady Justice Hallett said he had shown only a “fleeting intention” to use the gun at his Warwickshire school last June, before contacting police. She agreed with social workers who said he should be freed under supervision.

Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with two other senior judges at the Court of Appeal this week, acknowledged the boy quickly “came to his senses” after loading the gun and had called police to the school himself.

“It was when he was putting on his ear protectors that he changed his mind and rang the police,” she said.

The teenager, who had been suffering from severe depression and social anxiety at the time, had “exhibited no aggressive or disruptive behaviour before this incident,” she added. Social workers recommended that the boy’s release include a rehabilitation package.

Last September, the boy, who cannot be named, took the double-barrelled shotgun and 200 cartridges from his father’s cabinet as well as a knife, balaclava and ear defenders.

He then spent his first lesson with the firearm concealed in his trousers at Higham Lane School, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire before excusing himself from class and going to a side room.

As he was putting on ear protectors in preparation for a massacre he changed his mind and phoned 999.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told the youngster: “The consequences of what might have occurred had you carried your plan into effect are too awful to contemplate.