MUM TRIED TO BAN THIEVING SON ... THEN SHE GETS A FINE

A DESPERATE mother who tried to get a court to ban her thieving son from the family home is being forced to pay for his crimes.

The boy, 16, has beaten her with a baseball bat, threatened her with a knife and kicked her in the stomach as she waited to go to hospital for a hysterectomy.

Even when she threw him out, he returned - and stole valuable computer equipment. Last year when the mother, who is disabled with ME, asked a court to ban him from coming near her house, she was told he was too young for the law to act.

But now she has been served with a summons and fined pounds 25 because he won't stop stealing. And if the boy, now living rough, fails to turn up for his next court appearance she faces an even bigger fine.

The mother, 43, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said last night: "This is the last straw. I have gone through sheer hell with him."

She claimed her other son, a 13-year-old asthmatic with learning difficulties and even the boy's step-father, are also frightened of him and added: "He's stolen pounds 15,000 from me over the years. Why should we pay this fine?"

The boy's mother said he physically abused her from the age of two, began stealing at seven, was sent to a special needs boarding school at 13 - and checked himself into social services accommodation at 16.

He next lived at a YMCA - where he was booted out for fighting. He has been sleeping rough for the last eight months. His next court appearance is in May, just a few days before the his 17th birthday when she will no longer be legally responsible for him.

She said: "If I had done something wrong, I would willingly pay a fine. But I haven't - I've never been in trouble with the law.

"Now I'm praying for the day he's an adult and not my problem any more."

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