A TEENAGER who says he is hopelessly addicted to crime has branded the youth justice system a "joke".

The 17-year-old from west York, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claims he has committed hundreds of crimes across the city - safe in the knowledge that the police couldn't touch him because of his age.

He says he is "amazed" he has never been given a custodial sentence despite repeated police warnings and court appearances.

The teenager says he is now determined to beat his crime addiction as he is currently on a nine-month suspended sentence for a serious burglary and is forced to wear a tag to ensure he keeps to his curfew.

"I accept I've got a problem," he said. "I guess I'm addicted to crime.

"I just kept getting away with things so I carried on.

"If the police had got tough with me from the start maybe it would have been different. We (teenagers) all know that the police can't touch us."

He says he started getting into regular trouble at 14, for the "buzz" and because there was nothing else to do.

"I started doing quite petty things like painting graffiti, throwing stones and knocking on doors and running off," he said.

"It got to the point where I was doing something every night."

He says he was a regular visitor to the police station but "got away" with six cautions and two final warnings, before he was even sent to youth court.

His catalogue of crimes has included:

Criminal damage

Untying large work barges from their moorings on the River Ouse

Possession of a flick knife

Burglary

Threatening members of the public with a golf club while drunk.

A police armed response unit has attended incidents involving him three times.

At 15, he was expelled from school after being accused of selling cannabis - a claim he denies. He has since been sacked from a string of jobs.

"I used to be sent to Acomb Police Station for a ten-minute telling off," he said.

"I knew that when I got arrested I would be out in five hours and could do something else."

The teenager says he attended court for nearly a year for a variety of offences, but only received fines and community service, along with referrals to the youth offending team at Mill House.

"I'm really worried now because my age can't protect me.

"I know I'm on my very last chance so I'm really trying to change.

"I feel sorry for the people affected by what I've done.

"I want them to know what a joke the system is."

The youth says his parents have done all they can to steer him away from crime and he takes full responsibility for his actions.

"They can't believe the stuff I've got off with," he said.

His friend, who asked not to be named, said: "The system has let him down because he has basically got away with everything."

Acting Inspector Nigel Tottie, of York police, said the system of dealing with young offenders was now set nationally through the Government's Crime and Disorder Act, 1998. An amendment to the legislation now means youths can be given one caution and one final warning before entering the court system - depending on the seriousness of the offence.

"It's fair to say that in the past the system of dealing with young offenders was called into disrepute," said Insp Tottie.

"Repeat youth offenders coming to our notice now go through the court system far more quickly.

"Undoubtedly there are individuals who come to our notice time and time again.

"The youth justice system is about trying to divert people away from crime. But if this doesn't work we can now get youths through the court system far quicker than we used to."

Updated: 11:37 Monday, September 22, 2003