THE mother of a teenager who shot his friend in the head with an air gun has joined the call for tougher curbs on the weapons.

Matthew Sheffield, 14, was shot by Daryl Allison as they fooled around in the garden of Allison's home.

Matthew died after the pellet from the .22 air gun lodged in his brain. Allison was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution at Teesside Crown Court.

Allison's mother, Susan Walkingshaw, who now lives in Edinburgh, yesterday broke her silence to back the growing calls for tougher laws controlling air weapons.

She also spoke movingly of her son's torment after killing his friend and the need for him to learn his lesson while behind bars.

Mrs Walkingshaw, 40, who was divorced from Daryl's father, Richard, 12 years ago, said: "I saw Daryl for the first time since the incident on Saturday - he was suffering.

"People forget that he has lost a good friend. He knows he has to live with it for the rest of his life, but I believe he is in the best place at the moment.

"I think two years for what happened is quite right. I'm not going to say it is too long just because I am his mother. But I do think he will come out a better and wiser person.

"The gun Daryl used that day wasn't just an air gun - it was a killing machine. I firmly believe that to own any gun, whether it's an air gun or a hand gun, people should have to have a licence.

"That means they won't get into the hands of people like Daryl. If they had to get a licence, they would understand the responsibility that having a weapon brings."

Allison, now 15, was 13 when he shot his friend at his father's house in Eaglescliffe, Teesside, in April last year.

His victim's parents, Mark and Wendy Sheffield, have since started a national campaign to force the Government to impose tougher restrictions on owning air guns.

Last month, three Teesside MPs, Ashok Kumar, Vera Baird and Dari Taylor, delivered a 4,400-signature petition to 10 Downing Street calling for tighter controls.