A teenage boy was handcuffed at gunpoint by police after playing with a bright blue water pistol in Hackney three months before a similar incident took place in the borough.

Armed police swooped on the 14-year-old on April 12 after a member of the public reported seeing a group of teenagers in possession of a gun in De Beauvoir.

After searching the boy, who had been playing with a friend and her younger sister in Balmes Road, they found that he was only carrying a toy water gun and released him without charge.

It comes after a Hackney mum accused the Metropolitan Police of racism after her 13-year-old son was held at gunpoint in July after playing with a bright blue water pistol in Stoke Newington.

Now the mum of the boy searched by police in April has told Hackney Gazette she is worried that what happened to her son “isn’t an isolated incident”.

She said: “It’s a very similar story – the same water pistol. [My son] is a mixed race boy as well and he was [just turned] 14.

“He got…[the water pistol] as a birthday present and it was armed police that swooped down, put him in handcuffs and broke the gun.”

Police have said that they stopped the boy, who had a broken leg and was wearing a crutch, just after 5pm because he matched the description of one of the teenagers they were looking for.

His mum said: “They searched him afterwards to see if they could find something, of which they only found some more water to fill up his water pistol.

“They didn’t call us either or bring him home when he was in a state. He was really upset and really distressed.”

Police have claimed that the teenager’s mum never made a “formal complaint”, although they acknowledged that she had contacted them to question why he had been searched.

An officer was then sent around to the teenager’s home to “explain the incident further and discuss any concerns”.

The 14-year-old’s mum said: “They were saying moving forward how they could have dealt with other young people in that same situation.

“And clearly not because what happened to this young person [in July] was worse.”

She added: “He's a young black boy – the question was if he was a white child?

"Hackney clearly has something going on. This is worrying.”

Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, local policing commander for Hackney and Tower Hamlets, said: "It is crucial that we take calls about possible firearms sightings seriously and the officers responded based on the information that had available to them at the time that suggested a teenager had been seen with a gun.

"As soon as officers realised the gun was a toy water gun, the incident was stood down and the boy was allowed on his way.

“We recognise this would have been an upsetting experience for him and that's why we took time to meet with his family to explain the incident further and discuss any concerns.”