"I will blow up your car' - youth's threat (From Gazette Series)

"I will blow up your car' - youth's threat

A DURSLEY youth who threatened a shop worker has been jailed for ten months for breaching an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO).

Karis Hall, 18, of Acacia Drive, pleaded guilty to three breaches of his ASBO when he appeared before Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday.

The ASBO was imposed on March 3 last year. Conditions included that Hall did not contact another named youth, did not enter Phillimore Road in Cam and did not cause alarm, harassment or distress to members of the community.

However on November 25 2005 Hall entered the One Stop Shop on Phillimore Road and threatened staff.

Christopher Jervis, prosecuting, told Gloucester Crown Court this week: "He entered the One Stop shop in Phillimore Road, Cam. He was wearing a black hooded jumper. He entered with another male whose identity is unknown.

"The store manager approached the defendant and asked him to remove his hood. She recognised the defendant and knew he was banned from the store.

"She told him to leave and he replied 'If you tell anyone, I know your Land Rover and I will blow it up. I swear on my mum's life'."

Speaking exclusively to the Gazette this week, an employee at the One Stop Shop, who did not wish to be named, said the experience was terrifying.

"It was not a pleasant experience when he came into the shop and threatened us.

"I knew he was on an ASBO and he had been banned from the shop - that's why we called the police," said the member of staff.

"You cannot let these type of people intimidate you. You have got to do what is right.

"The sentence is a bit lenient but we are happy he's not going to be in the area for a while."

George Threlfall, defending, said: "This young man has been a bad boy in a relatively small community - he has got a bad name.

"The first two breaches in my submission were not serious and in the third he maintains it was an empty threat.

"It is because he has such a bad name in the community that people are all too ready to believe the worst in him and give credence to what he says."

However, Judge Paul Darlow, believed Hall had not taken his ASBO seriously and sentenced him to ten months in a young offenders' institute.

He said: "You have a bad record for violence so it's little surprise that people take you seriously when you make threats.

"In the past community orders have had little effect and therefore I see no other alternative than a period in a young offender's institute."