A TEENAGER who stabbed a lad in the penis during an organised gang fight has been ordered to complete a youth rehabilitation order.

The 17-year-old member of North Young Guns, or NYG, had been on trial accused of producing a knife during a scrap arranged on Facebook.

But after hearing two days of evidence at Swindon Crown Court in April he indicated he would plead guilty to a lesser offence.

Now Judge Douglas Field has imposed a community order, pointing out the boy was the only one in the dock for the organised violence which involved up to 50 youths.

The teenager was on trial for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm when the case was stopped so he could admit affray.

Marcus Davey, defending, said his client pleaded guilty to the public order offence on the basis he did not use a knife to cause the injury.

"It was on the basis he caused an injury. The Crown will not say it was with a knife," he said.

"He was 16 at the time and is not to be sentenced on the basis it was a knife: be it a key or glass he used."

Passing sentence the judge said as well as being alone in being prosecuted he was making a new life for himself having moved away, was growing up and attending college.

He put him on a 15 month youth rehabilitation order with 30 hours of activity requirement and a five day programme on thinking and behaviour with the use of weapons.

The lad, who used to live in the Lawns area before moving to Richmond, Surrey, was also told he must not contact four witnesses in the case, including the boy he stabbed.

The jury had been told the NYG gang, who operated near the Orbital Shopping Centre in north Swindon, had been taunting other teenagers on Facebook.

Giving evidence by video link the lad who was stabbed said they had decided to stand up to the them.

A fight was arranged for Wednesday March 6 last year and the victim went with friends from college and a local football team to an area near Asda Wal-Mart.

From there they went to a children's play area called the Blue Park, in nearby Haydon End, where the defendant and his gang were waiting.

Minutes before the fight one of the victim's group said he received a voicemail message from the defendant threatening to shank him, meaning stab him, in the groin.

Rob Welling, prosecuting, told the court he said 'I'm going to shank you, innit, I'm gong to cut off your little b******s, innit. Come on, North Guns all day'.

Both gangs said they were outnumbered by the other group and as a result of the violence the defendant, who also received a severe beating, stabbed the victim.

He claimed he had used a piece of glass he picked up from a bottle which had been smashed over his head and was acting in self defence.

The victim and his friends said they saw a knife and any beating was meted out after the stabbing, not before.

An incident then took place at the Great Western Hospital where victim and defendant had both been taken for treatment to their respective injuries.

Words were exchanged between the victim and the mother and brother of the defendant.