BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw has defended a magistrate's right to ban the identification of an 11-year-old boy who terrorised his neighbourhood.

The young thug became the youngest person in England to be served with an Anti Social Behaviour Order banning him from parts of central Clitheroe when he appeared at Blackburn magistrates last week.

The orders were introduced by Mr Straw when he was Home Secretary in a bid to prevent thugs from terrorising neighbours, make them known so people can report them from breaking the orders and name and shame culprits.

But the court refused applications by police, Ribble Valley Borough Council and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, to identify the child.

After the case, Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans called for the youngster to be named because he was a persistent offender who knew the difference between right and wrong.

Stipendiary magistrate Paul Firth said the Clitheroe offender was too young to be named. He is just one year over the age of criminal responsibility of ten and is now banned from some areas of his home town of Clitheroe.

Mr Firth imposed the ASBO after a two day hearing about the boy's activities which included frightening pensioners, throwing bottles and mud at house windows, shouting and swearing at people in the street, and kicking passing cars.

Mr Straw, now Foreign Secretary, said: "I introduced the order to deal with problems of disorder and misbehaviour in the streets. We have to be very careful about the identification of young people.

"When I was considering ASBOs, representations were made to me by newspapers about the age at which offenders could be identified. I took account of this and shifted the presumption from being against identification of under 17s to being in favour.

"However, it is a matter for individual magistrates and courts to make the decision. They must take into account the circumstances and I would not comment on an individual magistrate's decision."

Government sources said that in general guidelines encouraged courts to identify youngsters over 14, except in special circumstances, but not to identify those under 14 without good reason.

Despite the principle of openness involved in ASBOs they said that it would be extremely unusual for an 11-year-old, however disruptive, to be publicly named and shamed.