According to reports, a 16-year-old girl held a ‘gun’ to the head of a police officer and pulled the trigger before striking the officer in the face.
Following the incident in Newport last month, the teenager from Ryde, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to an 18-month youth detention training order.
Armed officers recovered a gun from the scene on St James’ Street on February 4th, The weapon was later discovered to be a BB Gun, which PC Kerri Trickey was unaware of at the time of the incident. She was taken to St Mary’s Hospital for treatment after suffering a cut above her eye.
The unusual incident began at the Island Learning Centre on Newport Road when a teen girl pointed a BB gun at a boy, prompting the school to be placed on lockdown. The unidentified girl then proceeded to the town, where she was confronted outside Halifax.
When the girl appeared in the Isle of Wight Youth Court earlier today (Wednesday), magistrates decided to give her an 18-month detention training order, which means she will spend half of her sentence in a Young Offender Institution and the other half in the community under the supervision of the Youth Offending Team.
It comes after the teen admitted to a slew of charges, including three counts of possessing an imitation firearm with the intent to instil fear of violence and assault causing actual bodily harm (ABH).
The girl has previously appeared in court for another serious incident on the Isle of Wight.
The BB gun in question was a Sig Sauer P226.
Chief Inspector Rob Brind said:
“This was understandably a concerning incident for the victims, who initially thought the weapon being carried was a viable firearm.
“Officers respond to incidents on the basis of the information we are provided with, and we hope the community are reassured that we will always act swiftly and in the interests of public safety when these types of incidents are reported to us.
“We also want to thank the member of the public that intervened to help detain the suspect after one of our officers was assaulted.
“Assaults on police officers will not be tolerated. Police officers and staff have a difficult and often dangerous job, but we do not accept assaults as a normal part of the job.
“Officers and staff come into contact with people who are going through some of the worst experiences of their lives, but this does not give people the right to verbally or physically abuse our people.”
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