A Southampton teen who was charged with threatening three people while holding a machete was granted an absolute discharge yesterday.Tariq Bell, 16, denied the initial charges of behaving in a threatening manner and having an 18-inch bladed article in public when he appeared in Magistrate’s Court on February 14. The bladed article charge was dropped during the trial and Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo issued no conviction on the three counts of threatening behaviour.Mr Tokunbo told the defendant that a social inquiry report noted several positive points and said Mr Bell seemed like a young man who would learn a lesson from the experience.After the ruling, the defendant’s mother said: “The entire case was orchestrated by a hateful neighbour and should have been thrown out to begin with. But I’m happy to say that in the fullness of time the truth will always reveal itself.“Perhaps now the complainant in this case can move on to focus on raising himself and his children.