Third boy held over school airgun attacks

Published on Thursday 24 February 2011 17:06

A THIRD youth has been arrested and two teenagers have appeared in court after secondary school pupils were shot at with an airgun.

Kyle Allison, 18, and a 15-year-old boy who cannot be identified for legal reasons appeared in private at Ayr Sheriff Court yesterday afternoon.

It is alleged they assaulted the pupils, all aged between 12 and 16, by firing an air weapon, whereby pellets from the weapon struck them on the body to their injury.

The alleged assaults are said to have taken place in Hillside Crescent and Old Avenue in the Ayrshire village of Auchinleck on Wednesday afternoon. The pair were accused of acting along with a third person.

Gerry Tierney, a solicitor acting for Allison, said his client had made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody. The 15-year-old, who appeared from custody with Allison, was freed on bail. The case was continued for further examination.

A police spokesman said last night: "A third youth, a 15-year-old boy, has been arrested and is presently detained in police custody in connection with the incident."

In all, 11 youngsters - five girls and six boys - were injured in the alleged incident, although none was seriously hurt.

Police were called to an address at Church Street in Auchinleck at about 1:40pm on Wednesday after reports that an airgun had been fired.

A spokeswoman for East Ayrshire Council said the area surrounding Auchinleck Academy was "calm" yesterday and that classes were running as normal.

"The school was open as normal, and, as far as I understand, most of the children affected were back at school as well," she said. "The whole area is calm and the school is operating as normal.

"Some of the pupils didn't even know an incident had happened until they found out on the news. It has been very low key."

She added: "There has been a lot of support from parents and the community.

"There is counselling and support services available for pupils if required. Within the school, there is a guidance team, and the local authority has external support in the form of educational psychologists, who we can bring in if required."

Jim Roberts, an SNP councillor who represents the Ballochmyle ward, which takes in the village, said: "There's still a feeling of incredulity, but Auchinleck's a resilient community and East Ayrshire Council's offering all the support it can.

"There's an awful lot of good people in the village."

Neil McGhee, a Labour councillor who lives in Auchinleck, said: "People are obviously upset about what happened and concerned for the children, but they are aware that what happened is isolated."