'Big Brother-style' curb on London joyrider, 14

A PROLIFIC teenage joyrider from east London today becomes the first young offender in the country to be subjected to the toughest assault on youth crime ever tried in Britain.

The 14-year-old boy, described as a serial truant, was electronically tagged last night after he was convicted of taking vehicles without consent.

He will now become the first youngster to be put through a punishing new supervision and surveillance programme which aims to control nearly 500 of London's most hardened young offenders.

The tag on his ankle will be used to enforce an after-dark curfew during a six-month sentence which will see him subjected to extraordinary "Big Brother-style" monitoring. His school summer holidays have been cancelled and he will have to attend a new juvenile supervision centre for five hours a day for tuition.

There will also be a behaviour course where he will come face-to- face with victims of car crime who will tell him directly about the consequences of his offending.

When he is not under direct supervision, he will have to ring a monitoring centre several times a day.

In another restriction on his movements, his photograph has been scanned into a sophisticated computer system which means facial- recognition CCTV cameras in the area where he lives will be able to detect him and alert police if he is on the streets.

The boy, who was drawn into crime by older brothers and has appeared in court more than 30 times, will also get unannounced home visits and will be escorted home from school by an older teenager.

A Whitehall source said: "This lad will not be able to so much as cough without someone knowing about it." If he breaches the conditions, he will be fast-tracked back into court and face automatic custody.

The new sentences are being piloted in eight London boroughs - Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark and Newham.

Home Secretary David Blunkett launched the scheme today by visiting the CCTV control room in Newham, which will help track the 14-year-old.

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