Air pistol and cannabis found in college student's backpack

An air pistol and a small amount of cannabis were found in a 15-year-old's bag at a South Auckland boys' college yesterday.

Students at De La Salle College in Mangere East were celebrating De La Salle Day, which recognises the school's patron saint, when the discovery was made in the Year 11 boy's backpack.

Acting principal Brian Evans said a policeman based at the decile 1 college, as part of the Counties Manukau Cops in Schools initiative, dealt with the matter. He said no one was threatened with the weapon.

"Obviously it's very serious, we're pretty intolerant of drugs ... but this is very, very rare," Mr Evans said.

Police spokeswoman Ana-Mari Gates-Bowey said the boy had been referred to youth aid.

The drug would be destroyed and police took the weapon.

Mr Evans said the students' family had been contacted. It was too early to say what internal punishment he would face.

"We haven't got all the facts yet, I only know the basics," he said.

"We will work in with the family."

The Cops in Schools programme was introduced two years ago to help curb gang recruitment in the playground, tackle tagging, truancy and deliver driver education.

Five police officers were initially spread around 10 South Auckland schools but the number has since increased.

In another school incident, a Year 12 student's "joke" bomb forced the evacuation of pupils at Hutt Valley High School yesterday afternoon.

During a morning electronics class, the boy drilled holes in the side of a plastic bottle and left wires and LEDs sticking out of it, principal Ross Sinclair said.

The boy said when he went to the gymnasium for his next class, he put the device on top of the lockers, and then forgot about it when he went to another part of the school, Mr Sinclair said.

The gym was evacuated after the object was spotted by a staff member.

The school has a roll of 1700 students.

The boy will not be charged by police but will face the consequences at school today.

- additional reporting by NZPA