A ‘COCKY’ yob who has terrorised a housing estate for two years was given a public dressing down by a magistrate who told him: You are an idiot.

Alix Slater, 14, was blasted as he was hit with an anti-social behaviour order after more than 100 complaints about his ‘completely unacceptable’ behaviour.

Magistrates Jan Alcock said Slater thought he was a ‘some kind of hero’.

She told the teen: “You are nothing of the kind. You are an idiot.”

Under the terms of the order, Slater - said to have an alcohol abuse problem - was banned from five streets in the Pearl Street area of Roe Lee, Blackburn and made subject to a curfew.

Police said Slater was the ring leader of a group that made life a misery for residents with a range of drunken antics that included:.

  • Firing shots from a catapult at vulnerable people
  • Verbally abusing residents and harrassing pensioners for money for cigarettes
  • Bullying younger children
  • Tipping over people’s bins
  • Banging on doors late at night.

Sitting at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court, Jan Alcock was told how the police had been trying to get Slater’s behaviour under control for two years with a range of measures including acceptable behaviour contracts.

She told him he needed to take a ‘long hard look at himself’, adding: “There are lots of people trying to help and you are costing the taxpayers thousands of pounds.

“You need to pull yourself together and grow up.

“You think it is really good fun to use a catapult on someone who has had a hip replacement, or to tip people’s bins over.

“Do you think anyone is going to want to employ someone with that king of attitude?

“If you had half a brain you would be able to work out that the way forward is to take advantage of the help that is being offered to you.

"Go home and think long and hard about your behaviour.”

After the case police said they had obtained the ASBO, despite many residents being too scared to speak out at court against Slater for fear of reprisals.

Over two years officers said there were 100 complaints about his behaviour.

An interim ASBO was obtained earlier this year and since police said there had been a ‘massive reduction’ in anti-social behaviour in the area.

Police Constable Stephen Maggs, community beat manager for Roe Lee and Brownhill, said: “The full order should have a significant impact on the area and in particular help to improve the quality of life for local residents.

“A lot of work has been done with other agencies and the local community and I would like to thank those agencies for their hard work and assistance.

“I would particularly like to thank local residents who took a stand against Slater, which helped us to secure the ASBO against him.”

Andrea Quirk told the court she had been accosted and abused by Slater virtually every time she came into contact with him and his friends.

“He comes across as a cocky, nasty arrogant type,” said Mrs Quirk.

Welfare assistant Lisa Coot described how her sons aged 10 and nine had been bullied by Slater.

On one age her eldest fell after being chased and needed hospital treatment for a fracture.

“It’s always Alix Slater whose name comes back to me,” said Mrs Coot.

“There’s a group of them but it is always his name. Without him there is no an issue.”

David Green, an anti-social behaviour officer with Twin Valley Homes said legal action was the last resort after all other avenues had been exhausted.

Richard Timmis of the Youth Offending Team said they had been instrumental in getting Slater admitted to a school in Garstang for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

He had also been referred to Lifeline to address his ‘alcohol abuse’.

Clare Knight, defending, said it was unusual for the police to seek an Asbo against someone who had no previous cautions or convictions.

She told the court: “ASBOs are not baby-sitters.

"They should be there for people who have been in trouble on numerous occasions.”

Under the terms of the order Slater, of Whalley New Road, Blackburn, is prohibited from acting or inciting others to act in an anti-social manner and being with Aiden Mack or Bradley Douglas in public.

He is also banned from carrying any open container of alcohol, consuming alcohol in a public place and was made subject to a curfew between 9 pm and 6 am for nine months.

Slater is also prohibited from entering a defined area including Douglas Place, Gretna Walk, Peridot Close, Pearl Street and Emerald Street.