The 17-year-old avoided jail at Kingston Crown Court
(Picture: PA Archive)A teenage boy was convicted of firearms offences after shooting himself in the foot with a shotgun.
The 17-year-old , who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to a 12-month referral order at Kingston Crown Court on Friday following the horrific incident.
He pleaded guilty last month to being in possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Co-defendant Tyrese Campbell, 19, from Hounslow, was sentenced to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to carrying a firearm in a public place.
The court heard that the 17-year-old went to hospital last March after claiming he had been shot in the foot.
Officers carried out enquiries and established that his account of the events were untrue.
Witnesses and CCTV enquiries identified that he had accidentally discharged a shotgun - that was concealed in his waistband - into his foot on Lionel Road North in Brentford.
The investigation found Campbell was with the 17-year-old at the time of the incident and took the firearm away with him.
Detective Constable Katie Newton, the investigating officer from the Specialist Crime Command, said: “The 17-year-old and Campbell were illegally in possession of the shotgun, and they clearly only had it with the intention to cause fear of violence – or worse.
“We know gun crime is closely linked to gangs, drugs markets and organised crime groups and we will stop at nothing to disrupt the supply of firearms on the streets of London.
“But we can’t do this alone. We can reduce gun crime far quicker if members of the public provide us with information about where firearms are being stored and who they are being used by.”
Anyone with information about firearms or other weapons should call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
