A Moray schoolboy was arrested after joking that he would bring a gun to school to kill his classmates – while making “shooting gestures”.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and his friends insist the incident was nothing more than “schoolboy banter”.
But when word of the exchange spread through his secondary school and reached senior teaching staff, the police were called in to investigate.
The teenager was later charged with behaving in a threatening or abusive manner during the incident on December 20 last year.
It was alleged his comments and threatening gestures could have caused fear and alarm.
However, when he appeared in the dock at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, his solicitor said it was a “misunderstanding”.
Defence agent Brent Lockie said the boy’s fellow pupils were certain that the remark was intended as a joke.
Mr Lockie urged Sheriff Chris Dickson to consider the “jovial” context within which the alleged threats were made.
Sheriff Dickson eventually agreed to acquit the youngster of any charges, deeming that his actions did not in fact constitute “threatening behaviour”.
The court heard that the incident unfolded after the accused joined in with some chiding about his apparent “resemblance to a shooter”.
The long-haired teen was described by his solicitor as “looking unlike his friends”.
Mr Lockie added: “School can be difficult if you look a bit different.
“The teasing was predicated on my client looking a bit like someone who may carry out these shootings.
“And he played along with that, responding that he was going to shoot up the school.
“As he did that, he made gun signals but they were not aggressive in nature.”
The lawyer provided vivid demonstrations of the different meanings that could be taken from various methods of mimicking holding a gun.
He emphasised the “jovial” way his client performed the gesture.
Mr Lockie added: “He did not intend to threaten or alarm anyone, the joke was on him and he was just playing along with it.
“Everyone knew it was just a bit of a wind-up”
Fiscal Alison Wyllie said the legal “test” as to whether behaviour is “threatening or intimidating” is whether a hypothetical, reasonable observer would view them in such a way.
But Sheriff Dickson said his decision was based primarily on the context of the comments.
He said: “In this case, I consider context to be of crucial importance.
“ Witnesses understood that the accused was joking around.”
Moray Council leader George Alexander last night said staff at the school had been placed in a “tough position” by the situation.
The former Forres Academy teacher said: “99 times out of 100, something like this will just be schoolboy capers.
“But in the present climate, and even if the risk is tiny, what headteacher would just ignore that?
“They would be hung, drawn and quartered if that pupil later committed some sort of violent act.
“The entire thing is unfortunate, but I have a lot of sympathy with teaching staff.”