A teenager was told he narrowly escaped being locked up after he admitted targeting a fire brigade officer with fireworks while he tried to do his job.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was with another person creating a rubbish heap bonfire just off Broadwell Road in Easterside, Middlesbrough, on the afternoon of Bonfire Night last year when the incident happened.
Fire crews called to the scene said the pair were seen to be in possession of “flare-style fireworks”, prosecutor Joanne Hesse told Teesside Youth Court.
She said: “An officer got out in order to assess the fire and he states that fireworks were lit and fired in his direction.”
She said that though the firefighter was not hurt by the fireworks, if they had hit him “there would have been potential to cause serious injuries.”
She said the officer asked the youths to put the fire out, and described the young man as “coming up to him toe-to-toe in an aggressive manner” and verbally abusing him. She said: “He stated that the group had no regard for his safety.”
The college student appeared at the court today to be sentenced for the offence of obstructing or hindering an emergency worker, plus one of affray from the same day, relating to the verbal abuse directed at the same firefighter.
The teenager, who was accompanied to the court by his mum, “fully admitted being in possession of fireworks, he admitted firing them towards the officer and being verbally abusive to the officer,” Ms Hesse added.
He was in breach of a conditional discharge at the time of the offence, which he had been given on October 8 for causing a dangerous occurrence on or over a road.
He had also previously been subject to a referral order for a non-dwelling burglary, but was not in breach of that at the time of this offence.
Kelleigh Lodge, defending the teenager, said he had “pleaded guilty to these offences at the first opportunity”. She said: “He was going through a rough time at that stage - his mum was very unwell and had been in and out of hospital.”
She said he “didn’t mean to be aggressive towards the fireman”, but had intended to ask if they could keep the fire lit.
She added: “He’s genuinely sorry about his behaviour.”
Chairman of the Bench, Mr Keith Gorton told the teenager: “We’ve been told you are very sorry about what happened and we’re glad to hear that.
“We have to say that we gave consideration to a custodial sentence today. These are very serious offences. They are not just affecting people doing their job, they are people who we rely on to keep us all safe.”
But he said he felt the teenager should continue to do well at college, and that he needed help to address his “recklessness” and to help him think about the consequences of his actions in the future.
He gave the boy a six-month Youth Rehabilitation Order with supervision and some reparation activitiies. He also ordered him to pay £100 costs.
A second teenager, 19-year-old Joshua Jake Smith, of Eccleston Walk, Middlesbrough, also appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court in connection with the incident. His case was adjourned and he is to appear again on Wednesday, March 4.
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