A teenager from Westbury who shot a 15-year-old girl in the eye with a BB gun has been spared a jail term by magistrates.

Jade Fenwick, 19, of Oldfield Road, admitted shooting the schoolgirl with a plastic pellet from the cheap gun in the park off Campion Close on September 8 last year.

On Monday North West Wiltshire Magistrates’ Court, in Chippenham, heard that Fenwick’s 15-year-old victim suffered bruising to her left eye from the incident, and continued to experience problems with her vision.

Although her eyesight should return to normal, she experiences blurred vision and has had multiple hospital appointments. She also frequently experiences pain in the eye, on occasions causing her to miss school.

In a victim statement read to the court, the schoolgirl said: “I don’t go out as much as I would because I am worried about seeing her out.

“I feel I have lost confidence and am not as loud as I used to be, and friends and teachers have said this to me.”

The court heard that Fenwick and some friends had bought the gun, which cost less than £2, and some pellets on the day of the attack, and had spent the day playing with it, shooting at each other and objects. Between 7pm and 7.30pm Fenwick aimed at the girl, who she knew, and fired the gun. When the girl was hit in the eye, Fenwick apologised straight away.

Kim Brereton, defending, said: “She completely regrets what happened and knows she shouldn’t even have pointed it in the general direction of somebody, and unfortunately totally by a reckless action has hit her in the eye.”

Ms Brereton told the court that since the incident her client had stopped hanging around with that group of friends, and was now volunteering seven days a week at a stables, with a view to getting an apprenticeship.

Magistrates sentenced Fenwick to an 18-month supervision order, ordered her to attend aggression replacement and drugs awareness courses and complete 100 hours of unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay her victim £100 in compensation.