A teenager who once had his bail conditions lifted so he could enjoy a sunshine break has now had his curfew removed as it was hampering his social life.
John Harrison (17) is awaiting sentence on a string of charges, mostly fuelled by alcohol, including housebreaking, assault, resisting arrest and breaching his curfew conditions.
He has spent 12 weeks on the Right Track programme a scheme with a proven record of steering young offenders away from a life of crime in a bid to address his problems.
Harrison has been warned in the past that “only by the skin of his teeth” has he avoided being sentenced to a period in custody, with his age and the chance that Right Track will succeed the most important factors.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that Harrison had recently moved from Alyth to Perth and was staying at the town’s CATH House, which offers homeless accommodation.
Solicitor Mike Tavendale said his client was attempting to make a new start but required the assistance of the court to help that succeed.
“He has been subject to a 7pm to 7am curfew since August of last year and it seems that, with his changed circumstances, this is proving an inhibiting factor,” Mr Tavendale said.
“It is preventing him from socialising and from making friends in his new surroundings.”
Sheriff Michael Fletcher said he was willing to remove the curfew, adding, “It is too artificial if we are to see whether you have really made progress.”
He ordered Harrison to continue working with Right Track and told him to return to court on May 4, when he will be sentenced.
Among the offences for which Harrison is awaiting sentencing is a break-in to a house in Coupar Angus on August 13 last year to raid it for valuable items only for the drunken teenager to fall asleep in the owners’ bed.
The house had been left secure at around 5.30pm, apart from the front bedroom window, which provided him with a way in.
When the homeowner his girlfriend’s father returned at around 5am the following day, he found the accused sleeping in his main bedroom. He was told to leave and fled through the front door in the direction of the town centre.
It was only after the police were contacted that his victims realised he had made off with more than £600 worth of their property.
Harrison was traced around three hours later and admitted taking the items including an army medal, jewellery, a wallet and mobile phones before helping officers recover them.
The teenager was said by his agent to have been “under the influence of alcohol and simply didn’t know what he was doing.”
The following month Harrison’s problem with alcohol landed had him in trouble again as he launched an unprovoked attack on a friend at a house in Coupar Angus.
He appeared at the window of the property in Queen Street shortly before 6pm and told his friend, who was inside with his girlfriend, that he needed to speak with him.
Harrison was already banned from the house and, as he appeared to be heavily under the influence of alcohol, his friend refused to let him in.
He stayed at the window for more than 10 minutes, becoming increasingly agitated, before the occupants eventually took pity on him and opened a window to talk to him. Harrison then grabbed the window and jumped into the room, knocking his friend to the floor as he did so.
To the horror of the man’s girlfriend he jumped on him as he lay on the floor and punched him repeatedly on the head and body. He was pulled away and fled the scene.
Harrison has now pleaded guilty to four charges, including breaking into a house in Coupar Angus on August 13 and stealing a number of items and injuring a man at Queen Street, Coupar Angus, on September 25 by repeatedly punching him about the head and body.
He has also admitted resisting two police officers at Davidson Crescent, Coupar Angus, on July 3, struggling with them and lashing out with arms and legs to prevent them from putting him in a police vehicle, and finally that he breached his curfew on August 25.
Deferring sentence, Sheriff Fletcher said, “I think the best thing to do is to have you continue on the Right Track programme. I think this course has done you some good.”
Having heard that Harrison was trying to reconcile with his family after a troubled period, he added, “I think the very best course of action when you leave this court today is to go straight to Marks & Spencer and buy your mum a big bunch of flowers.”