A TEENAGE gang leader who terrorised a neighbourhood for years has been named by magistrates.

Carl Rankin, 17, was made the subject of an anti-social behaviour order yesterday after leading a gang which intimidated residents and workers on Saltersgill estate, Middlesbrough.

Magistrates decided to allow his name and address, but not his picture, to be used in the media in an attempt to deter other youths from causing chaos on the streets.

The order - the first in Middlesbrough - lasts for three years and restricts where the teenager can go and what he can do in the town.

If Rankin, of Sunningdale Road, breaches it, he faces a prison sentence of up to five years.

Angela Gray, prosecuting, read a catalogue of Rankin's misdemeanours over the past two years to Teesside magistrates, saying he was held in high esteem by his gang and became the ringleader after many of his friends were convicted of offences and imprisoned.

His activities centred around shops in Saltersgill Avenue, where the gang gathered and asked customers of Bells Stores to buy them alcohol.

Their behaviour was so threatening that people became afraid to use the store and staff refused to work at night.

Proprietor Peter Bell banned Rankin from the store, employed a security guard and installed surveillance cameras. But the teenager persisted with his abuse of staff.

Ms Gray said Rankin menaced residents of the William Sutton Trust Estate and said he was regularly warned by community wardens for riding a motorcycle on footpaths.

She also said he was involved in stealing a car, which was involved in a collision.

Rankin, who lives with his mother, stepfather, two brothers and sister, worked as a trainee painter and decorator but lost his job after he was caught smoking cannabis during a break, said Ms Gray.

Paul Dixon, for Rankin, said the youth agreed to the order and accepted his behaviour had been unacceptable, but had changed his ways. He denied stealing the car or smoking cannabis.

Chairman of the Bench Barbara Helbert banned Rankin from the William Sutton Trust estate or going within ten metres of Bells Stores, saying it was necessary to protect residents.

He is also banned from harassing or encouraging others to harass residents, driving a motorcycle on a public footpath, consuming alcohol and congregating in a group of five or more people outside any premises