A TEENAGER was spared being sent back to a detention centre yesterday after he admitted carrying an air rifle while trespassing on a farm.

Police discovered the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and a friend, carrying a .22 air rifle at Garthorne Farm, Archdeacon Newton, near Darlington, on January 25.

James Thomas, prosecuting, told South Durham Youth Court that the boy told officers they were after rats and had not realised they were trespassing.

He said the teenager had previously been banned from carrying an air rifle for five years after serving a sentence in a detention centre.

The 17-year-old, a disqualified driver, also pleaded guilty to being in charge of a Yamaha motorcycle while drunk last October.

Stephen Andrews, speaking in mitigation, said the boy knew he was in a precarious position and could be sent back to the detention centre but had made two honest mistakes.

Magistrates gave him 40 hours community service, banned him from driving for a year and fined him £50 plus £30 prosecution costs.