AN 18-year-old man has been found guilty of causing actual bodily harm to two teenagers during a camping trip in Larkhill.

A jury sitting at Salisbury Crown Court heard Arron Richardson, of Gardiner Road in Larkhill, was camping with friends near the Strangways on April 25 when it was alleged he shot at nineteen-year-old Matthew Purves and a 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, with a BB gun.

He was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of possessing an imitation firearm.

The jury of six men and six women returned a unanimous guilty verdict on the two counts of ABH but failed to reach a verdict on the firearm charge.

Mr Purves, who sustained 21 wounds in the attack, said Richardson started making a nuisance of himself after the group had been drinking. He and the girl were in the tent when he heard Richardson say ‘I will get them out the tent, watch this’.

Giving his evidence by video link, he said Richardson ripped the zip up and started firing. Mr Purves said he burnt a hole in the tent and ripped it so he and the girl could escape. He ran off into the woods, with Richardson following him, knocked on the door of a nearby house and called the police.

However Richardson claimed most of the group used the guns, including Mr Purves, and were all shooting at each other, trees and empty cans and bottles. He said Mr Purves must have sustained the wounds from this.

He said he walked away and left the group to calm down after Mr Purves became aggressive towards him because the girl said she had been shot.

When he returned 15 minutes later, he found Mr Purves setting fire to the tent, which belonged to his parents, and a scuffle broke out before Richardson stormed off again and damaged Mr Purves’ car. He previously pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage.

Richardson will be sentenced on November 27 at Southampton Crown Court.