AN Irish schoolboy who was caught with a loaded revolver AND a semi-automatic pistol hidden under his bed has been spared jail.
The firearms were found by Gardaí in the bedroom of the 15-year-old's north Dublin home last November after he “got in way over his head”, Dublin Live reports.
Speaking at Dublin Children's Court, Judge John O'Connor said the boy had been under an "implied threat" by a "criminal that would stoop as low as to use a 15-year-old boy".
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded guilty to charges under the Firearms Act for possession of two handguns – a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver and a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol.
He also admitted to the unlawful possession of bullets – 14 rounds of 9mm Luger calibre ammunition and two rounds of .38 special calibre ammunition.
The first-time offender was spared a custodial sentence and handed nine-months' supervised probation.
“Let me be clear, those guns were going to be used to kill someone,” Judge John O’Connor told the youngster, who replied: "Yes”.
The judge added that not only would someone have been killed, but the lives of their family would have been destroyed.
Nevertheless, he took into account positive reports of the boy's character as well as pleas of clemency from the defence in sparing him from a prison sentence.
Imposing a nine-month probation bond, Judge O'Connor warned the schoolboy that he would indeed be jailed if he returned to crime.
