A TEENAGER who set fire to a skip in which his friend was trapped, was sentenced to four years' detention yesterday despite a plea for mercy from his victim's mother.

Michael Temperley, 15, of Oakwood Avenue, Low Fell, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, died from shock, burns and smoke inhalation after he was shut in an enclosed skip which was then set on fire as a prank.

The 15-year-old defendant, who was convicted last week of manslaughter, cannot be named after Mr Justice Henriques turned down an application at Newcastle Crown Court to lift an order which prevents the media publishing his identity.

The judge said he wanted the teenager to be able to rebuild his life when his sentence is completed.

Michael's mother Linda wrote a letter to the judge expressing concern that the boy would receive a long sentence.

But Mr Henriques said he had to hand down a ''commensurate sentence'' for such a serious crime.

During the eight-day trial, a jury heard Michael had been playing on his bike when he was shut in a waste skip which contained wood and cardboard from a furniture store in the Team Valley Retail Park last July.

The prank went wrong when the defendant posted a lit piece of paper through a gap between the door and frame and the skip swiftly went up in flames.

Mr Justice Henriques told the defendant yesterday he had been showing off to two young witnesses and another boy who was cleared of false imprisonment during the trial.

The judge said the boy bullied Michael by shutting him in the skip and setting it alight.

But he accepted the defendant had tried to free Michael and had not foreseen that the skip door's locking mechanism would jam.

Mr Justice Henriques told him: ''A boy of 15 has lost his life, a loving family has lost Michael.

''This offence is so serious that no method of dealing with you other than detention is appropriate.''

Michael's parents were not in court.