A TEENAGE gang member was paid £50 by a “fixer” to flaunt guns for a BBC programme, a court heard.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was filmed assembling a shotgun on the Panorama documentary.
Yesterday, Liverpool crown court was told he was allegedly given the cash by an intermediary paid by producers.
Following the release of the half-hour Young Gunmen show, Merseyside’s chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe wrote to BBC director general Mark Thompson, asking if teenagers were paid to pose with guns for the camera.
The BBC moved to quash the rumours.
But yesterday, the court heard the youth was given the money by an intermediary to “show off” the weapon.
Jason Smith, defending, said: “The defendant contends he was not paid directly by Panorama producers, but was paid £50 by an intermediary, a fixer, who had been paid by Panorama.”
He added: “At the time, he was associated with a gang and gang membership.
“These were firearms owned by the gang that he was given to flaunt on camera as a younger member of the gang and was paid to show off the firearms.”
The teenager admitted possessing a shotgun and a hand gun, as well as ammunition.
In a written basis of plea, accepted by the prosecution and Judge Graham Morrow QC, he stated he was told to collect the guns by a man known as “Male C”.
It was claimed Male C, who was in his 20s, was a prominent in a group known as the Marsh Gang.
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