Tagging 'works' for serial joyrider

A prolific teenage joyrider from east London who became the first young offender in the country to be subjected to the toughest anti-youth crime regime ever tried in Britain has apparently begun to change his ways, it has emerged.

The 14-year-old boy from Newham, described as a serial truant, was electronically tagged in the summer after he was convicted of taking vehicles without consent.

However, now in his 11th week on the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP), he has shown real signs of breaking away from crime, said the Youth Justice Board.

Police and council staff who monitor the boy noticed an "immediate change in his behaviour because of the night-time curfew with an electronic tag".

The Youth Justice Board added: "He is at home by 9pm and getting a full night's sleep, rather than hanging out with other teenagers until the early hours. He arrives for his supervision and activities half an hour early.

"Two of his brothers are in young offender institutions and it was feared he was heading that way, until the scheme was introduced," a spokeswoman said.

The ISSP scheme aims to control nearly 500 of London's most hardened young offenders, using a combination of measures, including "Big Brother-style" monitoring. Youths have to attend a new juvenile supervision centre for five hours a day for tuition.

They will also go through behaviour courses coming face-toface with victims of crime who tell them directly about the consequences of their offending.

When they are not under direct supervision, they will have to ring a monitoring centre several times a day. In another restriction on his movements, a photograph of the teenager has been scanned into a 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 has appeared in court more than 30 times, also gets unannounced home visits and is escorted home from school by an older teenager. When the scheme was launched, a Whitehall source said: "This lad will not be able to so much as cough without someone knowing about it."

If the teenager breaches the conditions, he will be fast-tracked back into court and face automatic custody. So far only a handful of young offenders have been out on the programme in three parts of the capital, but the new sentences are available in 10 boroughs and will extend to other parts of London from next month.

Lord Warner, chairman of the Youth Justice Board, said: "It is very difficult to provide effective programmes during short periods in custody as it is almost impossible to ensure educational and behaviour-changing needs are met.

"These tough new programmes deal with persistent young offenders within a community setting, thus not disrupting lives but nevertheless ensuring the public is still protected. ISSPs offer the best opportunity yet for these hardcore offenders to change their ways through a robust and hard-hitting penalty."