A teenager from Walton has pleaded guilty at Guildford Crown Court to aggravated burglary, after helping an armed gang gain access into a housing estate.

On Wednesday, September 23, the court heard the 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was one of a group of people armed with an axe and knuckledusters, who stole a laptop and cash from a flat at Thames View House, off Felix Road, Walton, on Tuesday, June 9.

The charge was heard at Crown Court instead of youth court, because of the seriousness of the offence.

The teenager’s defence said, although the matter was serious, the defendant’s role in the burglary was at “the lower end of the scale”, because he had not seen the other people in the group were armed with an axe and had acted principally as a lookout.

The court heard the defendant, who has no previous convictions but received a warning for possessing an air weapon in 2006, knew the intentions of the gang was to commit a burglary.

He was the person who helped them get into the housing estate, the court heard.

He has refused to name to police the other people who committed the burglary.

Judge Christopher Critchlow extended the bail of the defendant, meaning he will be on a curfew and is not allowed within 500 yards of Thames View House. He is also prohibited from having any contact with the complainants.

He will be sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday, October 16.

• Get the latest crime figures in our Local Information section