There were emotional scenes in court as a teenager found with a loaded gun in a Slough park was spared a custodial sentence due to his 'exceptional circumstances'. 

The young man, who was 17 at the time of arrest and is now 18, appeared at Reading Crown Court on Monday, September 2, to be sentenced for carrying a weapon in Lismore Park last year. 

At the time, police officers on patrol in the park had attempted to stop the teenager – wearing a black balaclava and black sunglasses – as he rode his electric park erratically through the public space.  

The court heard how the officers instructed the teenager to stop and then detained him when he tried to flee.

Whilst being searched, police found three small bags of cannabis and the teen said he had "something" on him – a gun adorned with a fake “Glock” logo and a magazine with nine rounds inside, according to prosecuting barrister Nick Mather.

The lawyer told the court that the teenager had been acting as a “courier” to transport the weapon.

He added: “He clearly intended to pass it on to others.”

The defence argued that the teenager was under duress at the time, having been coerced by a gang called "The Lismore Park Killers."

Defence barrister Nicola Thompson told the court that her client had been groomed by gang members who gave him free cannabis when he was just 10 years old. Police had previously found him to be a victim of Modern Slavery “on the balance of probabilities,” according Ms Thompson.

Suffering from haemophilia, the teenager was more susceptible to feeling threatened by physical violence, the barrister said.

Ms Thompson added: "The basis of the plea is clear that he did this under threat. It's the only reason he did this.

"He does not want to go back to the life he was living. He will do anything - he cannot be more motivated to comply with anything the court has in mind as an alternative.

“He said he would work for seven days a week for free.”

The court heard that the teenager was living with a family member outside of Berkshire, had no desire to return to the area, and had been working at a family business.

The young man’s difficult upbringing and efforts to start a new life had been heard by Judge Amjad Nawaz with “great anxiety".

He intended to give the teenager “a chance” to continue his life outside of prison – and gave him a sentence of 24 months in a youth detention centre that will be suspended for two years.

The judge acknowledged that people listening to his sentence may think he had gone “completely mad".

But an immediate stint inside a detention centre would “take away the progress that has been made,” according to Judge Nawaz.

He said: “To take something like that away from someone who has seen what is on the other side of the fence would be cruelty in the extreme. I am satisfied there are exceptional circumstances.”

Several people sat in the courtroom's public gallery broke down in tears as the judge delivered his sentence.

The judge said he hoped he wouldn’t see the teenager again – causing the teen, sat in the dock, to shake his head.

The judge said: “You shake your head, but many have – and don’t stick to it.”

The 18-year-old will also have to complete an unpaid work order in the community.