ianstone
08-17-2010, 02:31 PM
Ex soldier subjected to 'intolerable' abuse by teenage thugs threatened with jail after confronting tormentors with a knife
By Jaya Narain (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Jaya+Narain)
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 17th August 2010
Comments (45) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303834/Judge-sympathises-soldier-snapped-plagued-teenage-thugs-years.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303834/Judge-sympathises-soldier-snapped-plagued-teenage-thugs-years.html)
Plagued for years by a gang of teenage thugs, former soldier John Cawley was at the very end of his tether.
He had endured a catalogue of misery during which youths abused him in the street, broke his fence and hit his brickwork with hammers.
They had damaged stone posts on his driveway, dangled from trees in his back garden and repeatedly kicked footballs at his walls and windows.
Over a five year period the father-of-two reported the gang of tearaways to the police around a dozen times but his nightmare had continued unabated.
But when he eventually snapped and confronted the gang in the street he was the one who was hauled before the courts and threatened with jail.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/17/article-1303834-0AD2F51B000005DC-464_468x342.jpg Wound up: John Cawley was pushed to the limit by a gang of youths
The judge even commiserated with him and demanded to know why more wasn’t being done to crack down on the yobs.
Judge Andrew Woolman told him: ‘I’d like to know what somebody is going to do about this situation.
‘I have no doubt that for many years you were subjected to provocation of all types and forms from a large body of youths outside.
‘I appreciate your sense of injustice that nothing is being done by others about making the situation in your street tolerable.’
It later emerged the ringleader, Matthew O’Brien, 14, had been repeatedly in trouble with police but had been taken on a day out to meet football stars from Blackburn Rovers in an attempt to stop his unruly behaviour.
However he continued to offend and was eventually handed an ASBO after officers admitted their leniency had backfired.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/17/article-1303834-0AD265D5000005DC-12_233x358.jpg Teenage tearaway: Matthew O'Brien, 14, has since been handed an Asbo
Preston Crown Court heard Cawley, 54, a warehouse worker, had been plagued by the gang of yobs since 2005.
After they repeatedly kicked a football against his home he ran out into the street with a knife and shouted: ‘If I get hold of you I’ll kill you.’
He admitted he had been wrong to confront the gang with a weapon but said he had been pushed to the limit.
The father-of-two from Blackburn, Lancs said: ‘I know I was wrong to have the knife and I will serve my punishment but I think the system is a farce when you think of the way these children have been treated with kid gloves.
‘I just lost my temper after becoming sick and tired with all the abuse I was getting. I’ve never been in trouble with the police before and have served my country yet I am threatened with jail.’
He said: ‘These young yobbos deliberately try and get a reaction by antagonising us and then claiming innocence. They know the law can’t touch them. As far as I’m concerned the law is a complete waste of time.’
One neighbour, who also suffered at the hands of the gang, said: ‘What John did was wrong but I’m sure most people won’t blame him especially if they learned one of the yobs had been treated to a meeting with his football idols.’
O’Brien’s history emerged earlier this month when he was given an ASBO for smashed a football ball into the face of a pensioner.
A spokesman for Lancashire police said: ‘There have been 12 incidents reported by Cawley to police since the start of 2005.
‘Seven of the incidents have been reported this year, five of which relate to antisocial behaviour, one for damage to Mr Cawley’s house and the final incident is the offence for which he has been convicted.
DIARY OF DESPAIR
Over the five year period John claims the yobs:-
Broke his fence
Damaged stone posts on his driveway
Dangled from trees in his back garden
Hit his brickwork with hammers
Regularly kicked a football at his walls and windows
Pulled wooden slats off the walls so he eventually had to put a layer of concrete over it
Smashed the window to his upstairs toilet
Thrown perfume at the door which sticks to it and is a pain to get off
Damaged the brick wall at the back of the house
Trespassed on the garden and smashed things
Pulled at the trees and fencing
‘A number of crime prevention measures have been offered to Mr Cawley which he has declined. Police carry out frequent patrols in the Highcroft area and a special operation codenamed Trojan also runs regularly on the estate to target antisocial behaviour, although we have received few complaints from other residents.
‘Several days ago we secured an ASBO against 14-year-old Matthew O’Brien who was behind much of the antisocial behaviour suffered by Cawley and in fact these incidents have helped to secure the order.’
Cawley was ordered him to carry 150 hours unpaid community work after admitting possessing a knife in a public place.
O’Brien was given a two-year ASBO banning him from certain areas, forbidding him from acting in an anti-social manner and playing football in the road.
He is also under a curfew from 8pm to 6am each day.
Scottish-born Cawley, a former Royal Highland Fusiliers, lives with his wife Helen, a nurse in a smart terraced house in Blackburn.
He said: 'It has only started to get really bad in the last five years. Its the usual things - like kicking balls against the walls and fences and breaking them and you tell them to pack it in and move on and they ignore you and it just escalates.
'To think that one of them was 'punished' with a Blackburn Rovers training session just beggars belief. It's just nonsense.
'The night I got arrested they were kicking a ball under the window in the room I was working. I leant out the window and old them to pack it in and they started again as soon as I sat down again.
'I just lost my temper. I had a knife in my hand because i had been scoring paper and I just ran outside towards them. They all scattered pretty quickly and I just walked up and down for a while before coming back into the house.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303834/Judge-sympathises-soldier-snapped-plagued-teenage-thugs-years.html#ixzz0wtCMYKMl
By Jaya Narain (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Jaya+Narain)
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 17th August 2010
Comments (45) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303834/Judge-sympathises-soldier-snapped-plagued-teenage-thugs-years.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303834/Judge-sympathises-soldier-snapped-plagued-teenage-thugs-years.html)
Plagued for years by a gang of teenage thugs, former soldier John Cawley was at the very end of his tether.
He had endured a catalogue of misery during which youths abused him in the street, broke his fence and hit his brickwork with hammers.
They had damaged stone posts on his driveway, dangled from trees in his back garden and repeatedly kicked footballs at his walls and windows.
Over a five year period the father-of-two reported the gang of tearaways to the police around a dozen times but his nightmare had continued unabated.
But when he eventually snapped and confronted the gang in the street he was the one who was hauled before the courts and threatened with jail.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/17/article-1303834-0AD2F51B000005DC-464_468x342.jpg Wound up: John Cawley was pushed to the limit by a gang of youths
The judge even commiserated with him and demanded to know why more wasn’t being done to crack down on the yobs.
Judge Andrew Woolman told him: ‘I’d like to know what somebody is going to do about this situation.
‘I have no doubt that for many years you were subjected to provocation of all types and forms from a large body of youths outside.
‘I appreciate your sense of injustice that nothing is being done by others about making the situation in your street tolerable.’
It later emerged the ringleader, Matthew O’Brien, 14, had been repeatedly in trouble with police but had been taken on a day out to meet football stars from Blackburn Rovers in an attempt to stop his unruly behaviour.
However he continued to offend and was eventually handed an ASBO after officers admitted their leniency had backfired.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/17/article-1303834-0AD265D5000005DC-12_233x358.jpg Teenage tearaway: Matthew O'Brien, 14, has since been handed an Asbo
Preston Crown Court heard Cawley, 54, a warehouse worker, had been plagued by the gang of yobs since 2005.
After they repeatedly kicked a football against his home he ran out into the street with a knife and shouted: ‘If I get hold of you I’ll kill you.’
He admitted he had been wrong to confront the gang with a weapon but said he had been pushed to the limit.
The father-of-two from Blackburn, Lancs said: ‘I know I was wrong to have the knife and I will serve my punishment but I think the system is a farce when you think of the way these children have been treated with kid gloves.
‘I just lost my temper after becoming sick and tired with all the abuse I was getting. I’ve never been in trouble with the police before and have served my country yet I am threatened with jail.’
He said: ‘These young yobbos deliberately try and get a reaction by antagonising us and then claiming innocence. They know the law can’t touch them. As far as I’m concerned the law is a complete waste of time.’
One neighbour, who also suffered at the hands of the gang, said: ‘What John did was wrong but I’m sure most people won’t blame him especially if they learned one of the yobs had been treated to a meeting with his football idols.’
O’Brien’s history emerged earlier this month when he was given an ASBO for smashed a football ball into the face of a pensioner.
A spokesman for Lancashire police said: ‘There have been 12 incidents reported by Cawley to police since the start of 2005.
‘Seven of the incidents have been reported this year, five of which relate to antisocial behaviour, one for damage to Mr Cawley’s house and the final incident is the offence for which he has been convicted.
DIARY OF DESPAIR
Over the five year period John claims the yobs:-
Broke his fence
Damaged stone posts on his driveway
Dangled from trees in his back garden
Hit his brickwork with hammers
Regularly kicked a football at his walls and windows
Pulled wooden slats off the walls so he eventually had to put a layer of concrete over it
Smashed the window to his upstairs toilet
Thrown perfume at the door which sticks to it and is a pain to get off
Damaged the brick wall at the back of the house
Trespassed on the garden and smashed things
Pulled at the trees and fencing
‘A number of crime prevention measures have been offered to Mr Cawley which he has declined. Police carry out frequent patrols in the Highcroft area and a special operation codenamed Trojan also runs regularly on the estate to target antisocial behaviour, although we have received few complaints from other residents.
‘Several days ago we secured an ASBO against 14-year-old Matthew O’Brien who was behind much of the antisocial behaviour suffered by Cawley and in fact these incidents have helped to secure the order.’
Cawley was ordered him to carry 150 hours unpaid community work after admitting possessing a knife in a public place.
O’Brien was given a two-year ASBO banning him from certain areas, forbidding him from acting in an anti-social manner and playing football in the road.
He is also under a curfew from 8pm to 6am each day.
Scottish-born Cawley, a former Royal Highland Fusiliers, lives with his wife Helen, a nurse in a smart terraced house in Blackburn.
He said: 'It has only started to get really bad in the last five years. Its the usual things - like kicking balls against the walls and fences and breaking them and you tell them to pack it in and move on and they ignore you and it just escalates.
'To think that one of them was 'punished' with a Blackburn Rovers training session just beggars belief. It's just nonsense.
'The night I got arrested they were kicking a ball under the window in the room I was working. I leant out the window and old them to pack it in and they started again as soon as I sat down again.
'I just lost my temper. I had a knife in my hand because i had been scoring paper and I just ran outside towards them. They all scattered pretty quickly and I just walked up and down for a while before coming back into the house.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303834/Judge-sympathises-soldier-snapped-plagued-teenage-thugs-years.html#ixzz0wtCMYKMl