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Original poster

worst teen in brighton.............views

19 replies

2shoes · 19/09/2007 16:32

www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1697920.0.citys_worst_teenager_handed_asbo_for_crimes. php

never started a thread in this section brfore so be kind.

I was shocked to read this and wonder what peoples views are.

OP posts:

Budababe · 19/09/2007 16:36

Well he sounds like a nightmare but an ASBO will do what exactly?

Original poster

2shoes · 19/09/2007 16:39

thats what I though, I just thanked god that ds doesn't know him.

OP posts:

Spidermama · 19/09/2007 16:42

2shoes I kept seeing the billboards for the Argus today with this headline and I think they've been very irreponsible to report it like this. They've crowned him with the title and he's got no choice but to stick to it.

noddyholder · 19/09/2007 16:42

I will post later after I have taken it in.If I post now I think I will be very non pc so will think about it rationally!Didn't want to not post though Hope you are well 2shoes

Original poster

2shoes · 19/09/2007 16:43

i know . he now has this title to be proud of. can't believe they send kids like him to schools like that,

OP posts:

Callisto · 20/09/2007 11:29

I just love this para-phrasing: 'But Kennedy then spat at them and began verbally abusing them, telling them he was going to have sex with their mothers'.

I feel really sad that at 14 he is so lost and angry. He has been badly failed by his parents I think.

Original poster

2shoes · 20/09/2007 11:35

oh by all accounts he is lovely. ds's mate who had to replace his skateboard felt so sorry for him...............not

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kerrykatona · 21/09/2007 21:17

"The teenager's behaviour got so bad that last September Kennedy was sent to the £63,000-a-year St Edward's School in Hampshire - a centre for children with behavioural problems."

"Kennedy could have enjoyed extra-curricular activities including snowboarding in the French Alps, history field trips to the Somme battlefields in Belgium and France, outdoor adventures in Wales, camping and mountain biking in Exeter and kayaking in the New Forest."

wtf oh well at least my dd has had a trip to edinburgh castle out of the goverment this year oh no sorry forgot, me and dh paid for it!!!

Original poster

2shoes · 21/09/2007 21:30

the whole gang (i think) have now been given asbos. don't understand it as the asbos only run until the end of november.

OP posts:

donnie · 22/09/2007 08:45

if he is guilty of sexual assault then he deserves prison IMO.

SleeplessInTheStaceym11House · 22/09/2007 09:01

i agree with donnie!

2ticks · 22/09/2007 21:33

For all his hideous behaviour, he is still only 14 - you have to wonder what has happened to him in his life for him to have problems like this.

2Shoes, you said you can't believe they send kids like him to schools like that - it is a specialist school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, with staff trained in working with young people with similar diffiuclties, and presumably therapeutic input also available on site. The fact that it is boarding means that he would have been away from his group of friends and the local area. Where else would be appropriate for him to be sent to school - a local mainstream school? Or do you think he should he just by-pass school altogether and be fast-tracked to prison?

It's easy to get hung up on the cost of these school placements, but if that placement had been successful (as they are in some cases) and turned him around then £63,000 would have been cheaper than funding a life in and out of prison?

I agree that the headlines are really unhelpful - will just give him extra credibility in his group. I guess the point of the ASBO is that he can be sent back to court for breaching it, and then they may consider a custodial sentence.

Original poster

2shoes · 22/09/2007 23:07

2ticks I see what you mean. My dd goes to a sn school which probally costs a lot more than mainstream.
It is tragic. i JUST CAN'T SEE HOW AN ASBO WILL SOLVE IT.(sorry caps stuck)

OP posts:

2ticks · 22/09/2007 23:28

I know what you mean about the ASBO - I think it's highly likely that he will break its terms and then go back to court. I also wonder what the parenting order is likely to achieve, but it has to be done to give the parent a chance to sort things out. It's a shame that he blew the opportunity of the school placement as that would probably have been his best chance of a better future. Things certainly don't look too good for him at the moment.

I agree with you - cases like these are tragic, but the tradegy of the situation tends to get overlooked because of the hideous behaviour. People (I'm not suggesting you) are quick to join the "lock them up and throw away the key" brigade, but forget that he is actually a 14 year old child.

I'm not looking forward to mine becoming teenagers - maybe they will rob him of his title!!

Original poster

2shoes · 22/09/2007 23:30

trouble is mine is a teen (15) and we live not far from saod boy. so I live in dread of a few years time when ds is going out to pubs and clubs and coming up against people like that.

OP posts:

WendyWeber · 22/09/2007 23:38

Good god, he's the same age as DS2

His mother is quoted as saying "He's fine at home with me." I used to know a boy whose (affluent, middle-class) mother didn't give him nearly enough attention - eg at 2 he would be in his cot all afternoon while she gardened and sunbathed - and throughout primary school he was a total shit out of the house, and a little angel in it - she would never hear a word against him because he was so good and lovely at home

I hate to say I blame the parents but I see parallels here...

2ticks · 22/09/2007 23:43

I know, it's really scarey - mine are 5 and 2 at the moment, so I'm only just getting used to the 5 year old being at other people's houses for tea on his own, leave alone being a teenager and out and about!!

I really don't know what the best thing would be for young people with these problems. There is obviously money and support available to help him (i.e. the school place), but he doesn't seem to be engaging in that, so what are the alternatives? If he went to a Young Offenders Institution then yes, he would be removed from the area for a while but the chances are pretty high that he will re-offend on release. What a mess.

In the article it said that Mum was hoping to move to live near her family in Essex - fingers crossed...

Original poster

2shoes · 22/09/2007 23:47

sadly there seems to be a lot of it about here. normally it is blamed on them living in a deprived area. I think it is truly sad that a boy has gone so of the rails at such a young age. i hope his mum gets to move near her family and get support.

OP posts:

Original poster

2shoes · 23/09/2007 09:54

to be fair to the lad. I have to say that there was a lovely letter from a man who lives near the lad in the paper who said that he has always found the boy to be polite and he and his partner have not had problems with him. so goes to show all is not always straight forward.

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