A TEENAGER with learning difficulties went on a wrecking spree after downing two litres of wine at a North-East music festival.

The 15-year-old had been drinking at the Stanley Blues Festival on Saturday, August 4, before causing a trail of destruction.

It started when police told him to put the wine bottle he had thrown on to grass into the bin.

The young man, from Stanley, swore at them and made off before breaking into South Stanley Junior School, where he stole two pizzas.

He threw them on to the school roof like frisbees and then broke into a JCB and stole a wheel brace, which he used to break the windows of a minibus.

The youngster used a long metal pole to smash the drainpipe of eight houses in Stanley and, when he was confronted by angry residents, threatened them with violence.

He was arrested after police were alerted.

Clare Madden, prosecuting, said: "He was still running round with the wheel brace and officers feared for their safety. There was a prolonged chase across the field and he was arrested."

The youngster appeared at Consett Youth Court yesterday, charged with eight counts of damaging drainpipes, one of breaking windows on a minibus, damaging a JCB, stealing a wheel brace, breaking into a school and stealing two frozen pizzas, using threatening behaviour and affray. He pleaded guilty to all the charges.

The court heard he suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attends a special school.

David Bradley, mitigating, said: "It is regrettable that this young man has lost his good character."

He was sentenced to a 12-month referral order, reduced to nine months to give him credit for an early guilty plea. He was ordered to pay £480 in compensation.