Council takes boy to court

Housing managers at Wear Valley District Council have already moved to keep out nuisance neighbours by tightening up tenancy agreements and changing the system for allocating homes.

This week it took the unusual step of taking court action against a teenage boy who, they claimed, was ruining the lives of people living near his family in St Helen Auckland.

Bishop Auckland Magistrates Court granted a three- year anti-social behaviour order against 16-year-old Steven Pearce, of Central Drive, after the council listed 14 examples of bad behaviour, including abusing solvents, throwing stones, harassing and threatening other residents and acting aggressively.

Bench chairman John Hehir, rejecting a plea that Steven's identity be kept secret, said: "A strong message should go out on various sides that behaviour of this kind should not be tolerated. We need to reassure the public, protect the community that we live in and deter others from this sort of anti-social behaviour."

A council spokesman said they had sought the order as a last resort.

He said: "It is clear that Steven wasn't accepting that he was behaving anti-socially and also the public need protecting from behaviour of this sort.

"Our first priority is to protect the community and they have had to put up with unacceptable levels or behaviour from this young man. We will be watching the situation very closely as it could have implications for his family. Any tenancy associated with his name could be at risk. The same goes for other people who cause trouble for others. We are taking a hard line."

Steven's mother said she thought he had been singled out. "He's not the only one," she said.

The council said it had worked hard with police, social services and Steven's parents Eunice Dawson and Stephen Pearce to try to improve the boy's behaviour.

Residents are being consulted about a scheme to rejuvenate the estate with money from the Government Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. Some hard-to-let homes are likely to be demolished.