A TEENAGE boy was yesterday placed on the sex offenders register and sentenced to four concurrent detention and training orders.

The 16-year-old, from Shildon, admitted having sexual intercourse with a minor in June this year but said the girl had fully consented and that the pair had been in a two-week relationship.

Defending solicitor Graham Hunsley said the girl had also lied to the boy about her age, claiming she was 15 years old when she was only 13.

The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm on a former girlfriend, aged 14, after a row on a public bus on September 3.

The following day he was spotted by police sharpening a carving knife on a step and placed into a police van, from which he escaped but was later detained by officers.

He pleaded guilty to carrying a blade in public and escaping custody.

Magistrates sitting at South Durham Youth Court, Newton Aycliffe, sentenced him to 12-month detention and training orders (DTO) for the offences of under-age sex and assault. He was also ordered to register with police as a sex offender for five years.

For possession of a knife, he got a six-month DTO, and for escaping from police custody he was sentenced to a four-month DTO.

All four sentences are to run at the same time, along with an existing 18-month he is now serving.