British boy arrested for possessing gun

Reuters

A boy, thought to be the youngest child ever arrested by London police for having a gun, pleaded guilty in court yesterday to possession of a firearm, silencer and ammunition.

The boy, who is too young to be named, was 13 when he was arrested in August after officers raided his family's home in Lewisham as part of an investigation into south London gangs.

Officers found a machete in the child's bedroom before a Baikal automatic pistol was discovered in a rucksack in the basement of the house.

Two silencers and ammunition were found nearby.

The child, who is now 14, told police he had been storing the gun for an older gang member since mid-July.

"This is an extremely sad and deeply concerning case, no matter what the outcome had been," said Detective Chief Inspector Peter Beyer.

"As a proactive unit, we are committed to targeting anyone thought to be in possession of firearms, however not one of my officers wants to come across a child in possession of a live gun."

So far this year, 28 teenagers have died violently on the streets of London amid growing concern about gang crime.

While official figures indicate that violent incidents are falling, criminologists note the age of the victims and offenders is also falling.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Paul Barrett (on 21/11/08)

@ AnnMarie Pawley. Fair comment. As a Londoner by birth I am disgusted by the total lack of personal discipline, respect for others and especially respect for the law displayed by the current youth.
One should never run down one's own Country but something has gone very wrong somewhere - Parents and Teachers are no-longer allowed any form of physical discipline and children have no fear whatsoever of other so called punishments. In essence, children and now youths are out of control and protected by a mass of "do gooders" who are actually doing more harm than good.
The rights of children now vastly eclipse the rights of parents leaving the parents (and teachers) powerless, in fear and the children in control.

claire robert (on 20/11/08)

i agree with anne marie pawley.,,..,i,m from uk originally and have said in many uk newspapers how the uk has gone to the dogs since i ;last knew it,..,.,all the teenage violence, & murders,.,.,..it,s devastating,..,.,i,m now in canada and it,s not that much better,..,alittle maybe,..,.,

Cedric Busuttil (on 20/11/08)

Well said AnnMarie Pawley and there is an explenation for all this. It is a fact that we humans look at others negligences and forget our own. Whatever - we are humans!
With some more education we might learn to fix our own things and instead of criticizing others, someday we might start to share experiences with others.

AnnMarie Pawley (on 20/11/08)

How come whenever there are stories of violence in the UK, we don't get any comments from British people, but whenever there's a story of animal cruelty in Malta we get deluged by their letters?