Crime wave boy walks free

The judge said Madigan could be identified

A judge has said he is powerless to lock up a teenager who has been convicted of more than 100 offences.

Declan Madigan, 16, admitted causing criminal damage at a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

The teenager, from Bulwell in Nottingham, has now been convicted of 109 offences and has been described by police as a one-boy crime wave.

But Judge Dudley Bennett said he could not detain the boy as he had already been locked up for other offences.

System failed

The 16-year-old admitted smashing a window following a family feud.

Judge Bennett ordered that Madigan could be identified, even though most children who come before the courts are not allowed to be named publicly.

He said Madigan had demonstrated a total disregard for law and order.

However, Madigan had already served the equivalent of five months detention for other offences and that was more than the maximum penalty the judge could impose for his latest crime.

Madigan, of Bulwell, Nottingham, was the first youngster in Britain to be locked up for breaching an anti-social behaviour order when he was 14.

Judge Bennett said on Tuesday the situation made a mockery of the system.