Boy aged 12 holds up shop with shotgun

A 12-year-old boy held up a grocer's with a sawn-off shotgun.

The boy, thought to be Britain's youngest armed robber, pointed the weapon at a shopkeeper before demanding cash and cigarettes.

Wolverhampton Crown Court was told how the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, burst into the shop wearing a scarf and a hooded top over his head.

The court watched as CCTV footage showed him pull a shotgun from underneath his jacket before threatening shopkeeper Jasbir Singh Guliani.

The shop-owner kept the boy talking until armed police arrived. After arresting him they discovered his weapon had not been loaded.

The court heard that the boy, from West Bromwich, West Midlands, had carried out the robbery as "part of a game". However, he had pleaded at a previous hearing to possessing a firearm with intent and attempted armed robbery.