Antrim teen pleads guilty to sending photo with imitation firearm

A Co Antrim teenager has pleaded guilty to sending menacing social media messages including a picture of him holding an imitation firearm accompanied by the phrase: "getting ready for school".

The boy, now 17, who cannot be named because of his age, was 15 at the time of the offences.

On Tuesday, at the Youth Court in Coleraine, guilty pleas were entered to three charges of sending menacing messages via electronic communications.

He pleaded guilty to a charge that on a date unknown between September 9th, 2016 and September 13th, 2016 he sent by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character, namely a picture of himself holding an imitation firearm,which had the appearance of being a firearm, with the comment “getting ready for school”.

The second charge he has admitted involved sending a message which stated: “Tryna figure out what to listen to before I go on my school shooting spree. Gotta make sure I pick the right song.”

The third charge the boy pleaded guilty to was sending a message showing a person making a gun gesture followed by the words “tic toc”.

The teen also admitted six counts of possessing an indecent photograph of a child.

A Youth Conference Plan has been requested by the court and the case was adjourned until July.