' Z- [- x6 }9 U$ }8 i6 l- _THE BABY-FACED ASBO ) c- z1 r3 c+ x3 n2 b3 b3 vVIOLENCE, THEFT, BURGLARY, ARSON, ABUSE ..AT AGE 13( J7 d0 Y/ w9 H9 |' b
MEET Charlie Mitchell - a 13-year-old hardened criminal with an Asbo. , @4 w( i! S6 p, `" Y) s2 l$ x4 o+ r: c! ?2 ]
The 4ft 6in lout has terrorised his neighbourhood - setting fires, frightening pensioners, ransacking a church, wrecking fences and gardens and lying and conning his way into OAPs' homes with sob stories./ J$ d/ M9 B/ Y
% r" @% u8 E& F" h% QHe even broke into a car, let the handbrake off then watched it smash into a parked vehicle. ; }( S! p4 j$ a5 I: A4 j 0 Q9 {: |. E% y2 LOne neighbour, too afraid to be named, said: "Word would go around that Charlie Mitchell was about and that something would be going off." l0 H- U; r& y! v0 _% o
, Q% Y$ P3 _5 e* f"Nothing was safe in your back garden and shoplifting was a bit of fun for him. He was under-age and his attitude was 'you can't touch me'."% R. j8 g' E7 G1 ^+ e$ \
! f1 F, r+ U( o9 B. x5 d N3 k' pNow magistrates have given him a two-year Asbo barring him from parts of his city and from leaving home without an adult. 1 P. r3 |' r9 u+ v, S+ `" t9 m* k, ~3 t
He is also banned from swearing, using racist words, throwing things, drinking and starting fires. Prosecutor Dylan Sadler told Plymouth magistrates: "You are dealing with an individual who has been described as being a hardened criminal at 12.! E, z2 ?$ W9 D9 m
3 O7 ~) O6 ^2 [( W* L"One elderly resident said his life had been sheer hell, and he had gone to extreme lengths to protect his property from Charlie.") r2 E9 n3 y$ f$ W- j6 ~1 h1 Y3 S
E E' e! J$ r- O; H. QFoul-mouthed Charlie, from Efford in Plymouth, was expelled from school in November. His family says he got in with the wrong crowd.! ^+ V* N, R) \, M- h
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A youth liaison officer said: "His mother and father have made great efforts to stop him mixing with certain people.& v4 \6 b N4 a3 L
, l& H' Z2 P4 d! Z& ?4 D) MThe family have had problems and his parents admitted he was almost out of control."( j2 I& h/ d: D5 C Y2 `
5 G, m2 j9 {. L5 E$ o9 RHis solicitor Mackenzie Robinson said: "He accepts his behaviour was appalling. His last anti-social behaviour was in December and since then he has changed."