A TEENAGER who broke into a school shed has been handed a harder court order after his parents said a previous sentence did not punish him enough.

The boy was working with the youth offender team after previously being convicted of a burglary.

But, after an appeal to magistrates in Newton Aycliffe by the his parents following his latest conviction for burglary and criminal damage, he has now been given a new court order which will see him have to complete 20 days of active reparation, the equivalent of 60 hours of unpaid work.

And magistrates warned the youth that any further trouble would see him go into custody.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, scaled a fence along with three others to get into the grounds of Hartside Primary School in Crook at about 5pm on Monday, August 26, the court heard.

Prosecutor John Garside said all four were captured by CCTV cameras.

Mr Garside said a storage shed had its window smashed and supplies including glue and hand sanitizer worth £115.07 were stolen.

The teenager punched the window so his friends could gain entry, although the youth said he did not actually steal any of the items, the court heard.

Mr Garside said the boy also used a hacksaw that was taken from the shed to cut the strings of a camouflage net in the playground because he was bored. The other three youths were dealt with by the police, but the teenager appeared in court due to his previous convictions, the prosecutor said.

Mr Garside said the boy’s parents felt his previous court order, which saw him working with youth offending officers, was not punishing him.

Callum Terry in mitigation said the teenager had reacted badly to the break-up of his parents’ relationship and could soon be diagnosed with ADHD.

Magistrates praised the efforts being made by the boy’s family, but said the youth has to change his ways or he will be jailed.

Magistrates gave him a new six month order with six months supervision, the active reparation and ordered the youth’s father to pay £30 compensation, a £15 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.