A 15-YEAR-OLD who beat a boy and terrified another by threatening him and stealing his bike, was yesterday locked up for six months.

The Darlington teenager appeared before the town's youth court for three offences, including a violent attack on a postman while he was drunk.

Magistrates heard that the teenager's mother was proposing to move the family away from Darlington in the hope of preventing her son from re-offending.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted assaulting another youth after drinking.

Barry Smith, prosecuting, said the pair brushed past each other before an altercation took place.

"The young man came towards him and threw a number of blows and attacked him," said Mr Smith.

His victim fell to the ground and received a further blow. His injuries included a bruised eye and broken nose.

Magistrates heard that the teenager was also involved in the robbery of a 13-year-old's BMX bike last November, an offence for which he was found guilty last month.

The youth had been with a group of friends when he began to frighten a young boy by following him on his bicycle.

"He grabbed hold of the left shoulder of the boy and pushed him across the road," said Mr Smith.

"He said to him 'Get off your bike or I'll smash your little face in'."

The youth also admitted breaching a supervision order.

Gwen Burnett, in mitigation, said the youth had built up quite a list of convictions, including a sentence in custody, since last year. She said the teenager's mother was planning to move the family to Thornaby in an attempt to make a fresh start, and asked the bench not to lock him up.

"If you send him into custody you are simply writing him off. He will then be able to mix with much more sophisticated criminals," she said.

Magistrates' chairman Harry Fletcher imposed a six- month detention and training order for the robbery.

He sentenced the teenager to a further four months for the assault and 21 days for the breach, to run concurrently.