JUDGE Lindsey Kushner decided not to send a 16-year-old boy from Tonge Moor to youth custody for pointing a fake gun at a woman's head.

The court heard that he was "bored", and the judge felt that he would become a man with "vicious criminal intent" if she locked him away.

The youth admitted that, when he had confronted his victim as she walked across a car park near Bromwich Street and Bradford Street in Bolton, he had done it for "a bit of fun."

He had also been convicted previously of attempted robbery on a woman pushing a babychair, and of threatening to stab another woman with a laser pen as she went to get into her car. The woman thought he was holding a knife.

I sincerely hope that Judge Kushner has got it right in her handling of this case because an awful lot of people will be shaking their heads once more at the way we treat young offenders.

Please do not think that I -- and probably the huge numbers who believe that the courts are often too lenient -- do not appreciate that many youngsters in trouble are not innately bad, just a bit misguided. And that they cannot be helped to become sensible citizens.

But. And it is a big "but". What sort of message does this kind of treatment of someone who has terrorised at least three people give out to the victims, and to everyone else? Bear in mind that this comes at a time when the Home Office has already announced plans to ban youngsters under 17 from carrying guns. And that gun crime is spiralling horribly out of control with two more shootings in Manchester this week alone.

Gangs around our inner cities operate so effectively because they consist of groups of "bored" youngsters who get their fun and excitement getting together to wield their power.

I can understand Judge Kushner's approach in this instance because the youth's criminal record so far was two shoplifting offences and it is quite likely that he does need help rather than custody.

But I do hope that the intensive three-year supervision order consists of positive, practical guidance delivered by a stern hand to push him onto the straight and narrow.

It is obvious to most sensible citizens that youngsters need parameters within which they can work. They need rules and regulations, and they need to know that if they break them, there is a real price to pay.

In this case it is the victims of the crimes who are paying it, not him.