Two high school students arrested over the weekend for taking an air gun into class have been freed after a judge ruled no real crime had been committed.

Investigating judge Heng Sokna said yesterday that he had decided to release Teng David, 17, a student at Hun Sen Pochentong Secondary School, and Tiv Darat, also 17, who studies at Borie 100 Knong High School, on Wednesday, because the gun concerned was a harmless replica.

“It was a gun that fires plastic bullets that causes no harm to other people, even though it looks similar to a real gun,” he said. “Secondly, they are students and the court must think about their future, and thirdly, the court has not found them guilty of any of the crimes they have been charged with.”

Police arrested the pair on Saturday afternoon after the alarm was raised by the principal of Hun Sen Pochentong Secondary School, and officers discovered the gun in David’s bag. Darat later confessed to being the owner of the weapon, which he said he had purchased in Thailand.