A TEENAGER'S intolerable behaviour could provoke his neighbours to take the law into their own hands if he were not curbed, a court heard yesterday.

People living in Minskip, near Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, had complained to Harrogate Magistrates Court over delays in sentencing Richard Davies.

He has admitted 13 charges, including making nuisance telephone calls, carrying an offensive weapon, burglary, assault on police, and damage to a garden statue. Davies, 18, who has also admitted taking a car without consent, and damaging a cell, should have been sentenced yesterday.

But his solicitor Clive Farndon and the North Yorks Probation Service asked for more time, after Mr Farndon said a psychiatrist had concluded that Davies' behaviour was due to anti-social personality disorder.

Davies, of Harrogate Road, Minskip, was due to answer police bail on a new matter on January 4, which could give rise to a further charge.

Peter Pearson, prosecuting, said there was no doubt Davies was causing a lot of problems in the village.

He said: "I would not wish a situation to arise which might lead to him, or any close relative, being the victim of action being taken because people thought the court was not dealing with things properly.

"There is concern people might take the law into their own hands."

The hearing was adjourned until January 9, and Davies was bailed.