Teenager accused of shooting boy in Kesgrave had been to sleepovers with him, court told
The mother of a boy shot in the face on the way to school has been speaking to the court.
The mother of a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the face as he walked to school in Kesgrave told a court that the teenager accused of his attempted murder had been to sleepovers with her son before.
She told Ipswich Crown Court that the boys met at primary school and that the accused "had been to our house a number of times over the years".
In a police interview played to the court, the injured boy's mother said her son had been "excited" to return to school in Kesgrave, near Ipswich, on September 7 last year.
She said there was "nothing untoward" and that on that morning her son was "in the brightest and most pleasant of form", adding: "He was happy."
She said that after he left for school she heard a "huge bang" then saw her son on the ground injured and a youth stood nearby with a gun in his hand.
"He held the gun up to me," the injured boy's mother said.
"I was screaming 'what have you done'."
She said the youth "held the gun up with a very kind of smug" look about him.
She said he did not say anything, "but the face was like a righteous, 'I've done it now' sort of thing".
"It was a very significant gesture," she said.
"It wasn't done in speed or haste or fumbling.
"It was very controlled and looking straight up at me."
She said that afterwards the youth got into the driver's side of a parked car, taking the weapon with him, and drove away "in a very orderly fashion".
She said there was "not even a high-speed screech or a frantic 'I can't get this car in gear', nothing, just straight in and off".
She said she held her son's shoulder and told him "you're going to be OK".
Defence barrister Diana Ellis QC said to the injured boy's mother: "I'm suggesting to you that there was a conversation between you and (the defendant's mother) about the fact (the accused) was saying he had been bullied by your son."
The woman replied: "I can't recall it was anything significant and I know if it was I would have acted on it."
A 16-year-old boy denies the attempted murder of a 15-year-old boy and four further charges.
The trial continues.