Group of teens in court for wreaking havoc in town

Blackburn magistrates heard an hour later the same youths were filmed destroying a shelter on the town's railway station.

Jordan Richard Moore, 19, of Railway Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to damaging a shop window belonging to Gulham Mohiuddin and causing £719 worth of damage to a railway shelter belonging to Northern Rail.

He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £80 compensation for the window and £359 for the shelter after the court heard another teenager had already paid half the cost of the damage.

Katie Beattie, prosecuting, said Mr Mohiuddin was in his shop on Grange Lane when he heard a loud bang and the sound of breaking glass. He discovered one of the front windows had been smashed.

He viewed CCTV which showed five youths outside the shop and one of them, later identified as Moore, picked up a stone and threw it through the window before running of.

An hour later police were called to the railway station where every window in a shelter had been smashed.

CCTV from the nearby Tesco showed people crossing the railway lines before repeatedly kicking the windows of the shelter.

Following his arrest Moore said he had drunk three bottles of vodka.

Ian Huggan, defending, said his client had been in the care system and had been moved to Lancashire in 2016.

He had one conviction for a public order offence and had been out of trouble since.

"That is evidence of the steps he has made to try and turn his life around," said Mr Huggan.

He said on the night of the offences Moore and his friends had started to misbehave after drinking.

"He realises it should not have happened and described it as childish," said Mr Huggan.

"That shows an understanding to the issues involved."