FOUR schoolchildren have admitted being part of a gang which trashed and repeatedly raided a mother-of-two's home.

Burnley Crown Court had heard how the shocked and distraught victim had returned to Crawshawbooth from a weekend away to find her house broken into, property stolen and a trail of damage.

Tropical fish and goldfish were dead in their tanks, a valuable oil painting slashed, wall paper ripped off and something of a "party" had been held, with the drinks cabinet used and meals cooked in the microwave.

The parents of the four 15 and 16-year-olds wept in the public gallery as Judge Raymond Bennett passed terms of custody.

The judge said the complainant, a doctor's ex-wife, had come home to what every householder dreaded.

He said the four - all studying for their GCSEs - had used the victim's home as if it was their own, but not looked after it as if it was.

Two youths were each sent to a young offenders' institution for eight months after admitting two counts of burglary and being committed for sentence by Rossendale youth court. The other two each received sentences of four months after admitting burglary.

Nick Simmonds, prosecuting, said in July the complainant and her two sons went away, and over the next few days, the defendants, sometimes individually, sometimes together, went into the house and ransacked it in a bid to take anything of value.

She returned home early on Monday and was shocked by whart she saw. At least 50 tropical fish were floating dead after something had been put in the water, rooms ransacked, the bathroom used, wallpaper ripped off and the garage attacked.

The victim's bed was rearranged as if somebody had been lying on it using the telephone and her sons' money box taken. The woman found it hard to believe what she saw and was extremely upset.

Richard Hunt, for all four, said at least seven more youngsters were involved. They were all were ashamed and they would miss Christmas, New Year and more importantly their schooling in their GCSE year.

They may have behaved very badly, but were not fundamentally bad and while they may think they were confident and it had been a bit of a giggle, it had come home to them that society and the system was bigger than they were.

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