A TEENAGER said to be a risk to the public has been sent to detention for three years by a judge, who admitted she was worried about him.

Mohammed Khan, 18, had no sense of responsibility for the way he behaved and resorted to violence to sort out problems, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Sentencing Khan, Judge Lesley Newton said he had an "alarming" criminal record and she did not know how or why he had lost his way.

The judge said the future for Khan, who had played games with the system, would be "bleak" unless he took advantage of the help he would be offered in custody.

Judge Newton said Khan had taken part in a vicious and sustained attack on a victim named Paul Hooper in a house in Haslingden.

Mr Hooper had been knocked to the ground, punched, kicked and stamped on over and over again.

The court was told that in March 1999, the defendant and an accomplice started three separate seats of fire at an unoccupied semi detached house, creating an obvious risk to people living in properties nearby.

Khan later attacked a cyclist, pulling him off his bike in Haslingden and knocking him to the ground.

The defendant, of Rifle Street, Haslingden, admitted assault and was resentenced after being convicted of breaching court orders.