BRIGHTON: City's worst teenager handed Asbo for crimes

City's worst teenager handed Asbo for crimes

Mindless Thug Korrel Kennedy

This is Korrel Kennedy - Brighton and Hove's worst teenager.

For 18 months he has enjoyed a reign of terror across the heart of the city.

The yob has harassed residents, shopkeepers and fellow youngsters with his bad behaviour.

He has even been kicked out of one of Britain's top anti-yob academies because staff couldn't control him.

But now the 14-year-old has been banned from large sections of the city in an attempt to control the one-man crime wave.

PC Andrew Fall, an antisocial behaviour officer for Sussex Police, said: "He's probably one of the, if not the, most problematic young person in Brighton and Hove."

Yesterday, Brighton magistrates gave Kennedy a two-year Asbo and warned the tearaway he will be sent to prison unless his behaviour improves.

The court heard how since January last year Kennedy has run up a list of crimes including: * sexual assault, * criminal damage, * being drunk and disorderly * assaulting police officers, and * abusing hospital staff.

The teenager, dressed for court in blue jeans and a hooded top, slouched impassively while magistrates heard how he had amassed eight criminal convictions in the past year and a half.

Kennedy, of Gladstone Place, off Lewes Road, Brighton, is also accused of attacking a group of gay men who were walking along the seafront.

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.

But he was kicked out of the school in February because teachers, who are specially trained to deal with delinquents, could not cope with him.

The court heard how his behaviour became even worse when he returned to live in Brighton.

On March 9 the young thug celebrated his 14th birthday by getting drunk.

Police officers who found him were concerned for his safety and tried to pick him up to take him to the station.

But Kennedy then spat at them and began verbally abusing them, telling them he was going to have sex with their mothers.

When he was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road, Brighton, he became so abusive medics refused to treat him.

He was later convicted of being drunk and disorderly and assaulting a constable.

On July 14 Kennedy was asked by staff to leave the Sega amusement arcade in Madeira Drive, Brighton.

He was riding his bike around the machines and then hurled abuse at a police officer who tried to intervene.

He was eventually moved on by the police officer using dispersal powers and was ordered not to return to that part of the city within 24 hours.

But hours later he was seen roaming the area again and was later convicted of failing to leave the dispersal area.

Simon Court, prosecuting, described Kennedy as "attention seeking".

He said: "Korrel was in my view a very, very lucky man.

"He was offered a place in a £63,000-a-year school.

"It was a school where as extra-curricular activities you got to go snowboarding in France.

"The school has permanently excluded Korrel.

"As you read through the papers, his behaviour shows he wants attention.

"His behaviour since returning from school has escalated.

"What we have is a young man who continues to cause difficulties and problems, particularly in his locality.

"He is the hallmark of a young man who will end up in prison."

The teenager's mother was also made the subject of a parenting order, requiring her to attend classes to improve child discipline.

Speaking in court, mother Jacqui Kennedy said it was hard raising a child alone and that her son had fallen in with the wrong crowd.

She said: "He's fine at home with me.

"It's hard being home alone with a child.

"You cannot force a child to stay in.

"I'm trying to move out of the area to Essex where I have got family."

Lead magistrate Roy Simmons said: "The way you are heading, you will end up in prison, no doubt about that."

Under the terms of his Asbo, Kennedy must remain indoors between 10pm and 7am unless in the company of his mother or a member of the Youth Offending Team.

He is banned from the area around Vogue Gyratory, the Pavilion retail park and Madeira Drive and Madeira Terrace on the seafront.

He is not allowed to hang around in public with friends Jacob Pacey, 15, Bruce Hall, 16, or Josh Taylor, 17, or enter large areas of the city.

And he is banned from going near to the BP petrol station or The Hub pub in Lewes Road, Brighton.

Even after the handing down of the court order, the teenager's victims were too frightened to speak out about him.

One member of staff at the BP station said: "He used to come in with his friends and move the cameras so they couldn't see him.

"We would dread him coming in."

One worker at The Hub added: "We had to call the police two or three times a week at its peak.

"It is about time he has got an Asbo."

After the case an upset Jacqui Kennedy refused to comment on the Asbo.