THE mother of a teenage tearaway fought back tears as she admitted to a judge she loved her son -- but she didn't like him.

The woman, from the Accrington area, said the 16-year-old had disregard for a lot of people in authority and had a nasty and violent temper.

She told Judge Raymond Bennett: "I will always love him because he is my son, but I don't have to like him. I don't like him at the moment for what he has put me through."

The judge had invited the mother and her son to speak to him and two magistrates to decide what to do with the boy after a catalogue of offending -- including the theft of £100 from his mother.

He had begged her not to phone the police, had become aggressive and had threatened to smash her windows if she did, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been sent to custody for four months by Hyndburn Youth Court after flouting a supervision order and was appealing against the sentence.

He had earlier been convicted of burglary and theft allegations.

The appeal hearing was told attempts had been made to get the teenager to comply with the supervision order.

The youth, 16, was said to be extremely aggressive, disruptive and abusive at home and regularly threw furniture around because he could not get his own way.

He frequently stayed up all night and slept all day, had taken drugs and refused to go to school in his final year, the court was told.

The boy was considered to be extremely intelligent, although he had no qualifications, but would like to be a maths teacher.

The court heard the appellant no longer took illegal substances, but still mixed with criminals.

Youth offending experts reported the teenager's lifestyle was erratic and he was at a relatively high risk of re-offending.

The boy, who had spent 10 days behind bars and had then been granted bail last week, said if he was given another chance he would do the supervision order.

Philip Holden, representing the teenager, said hethe 16 year old had since stayed out of trouble. The time spent in custody had been a "short, sharp shock."

The court could impose supervision and curfew orders.

Judge Bennett adjourned sentence until August 14.