A 16-YEAR-OLD boy has been warned that a custodial sentence is a possibility when he returns for sentencing after pleading guilty to serious assaults.

The boy, who can’t be named for legal reasons, appeared at Alloa Sheriff Court on Monday with three charges against him.

On January 22, while at Alloa train station, the boy assaulted a boy aged 14 while part of a group of unknown people. He punched the complainer before kicking him on the head and body.

Then on March 16, at Shillinghill, the boy assaulted another male by repeatedly punching and kicking him on the head to his injury. He unleashed this assault while in possession of a knife.

Samantha Brown, prosecuting, told the court that the first assault was a result of a dispute that had taken place on social media, and when the group, which contained the accused, spotted the complainer, they gathered round him before beginning the assault.

A train driver got off his train and stopped the attack before taking the victim to Stirling where he met his parents.

Ms Brown added that the blade the boy was carrying was around four inches long.

The youngster’s lawyer told the court that her client had got involved in a bad group of peers but had since desisted from socialising with them.

Sheriff David Mackie responded by saying he was sure if any of the other attackers were appearing then they, too, would say they had been caught with the wrong group.

Sheriff Mackie allowed the boy to go home but told him that a jail sentence was a “distinct possibility”.

The case return to court on May 31 after criminal justice social work reports have been prepared.