A mother and father have asked York Youth Court to make them subject to a special order to help them keep their son out of trouble.

They told justices that though the 14-year-old boy had not committed a serious crime, they were very worried about his future.

"We don't want him to get into any more trouble," said the mother. "We want to stop it now."

And the father said: "He doesn't listen to anything we say."

The boy's solicitor, Sally Howard, said the parents felt they had not managed to convince the son that his actions were wrong. They were concerned he was mixing with the wrong crowd, despite all they could do to stop him.

"An order would put them in the system and they would be able to refer to the system for help," she said.

But York Youth Offending Team gave the couple a vote of confidence saying they had done everything they possibly could and youth justices decided against making the parenting order.

Instead they bound the parents over for six months to keep their son in order and told the boy to do 12 hours at an attendance centre to learn some discipline.

The boy, from a village near Selby, pleaded guilty to being a passenger in a snatched car.

"I know what I did was wrong. I mixed with the wrong group and I didn't mean to do it," he told the justices.

Prosecutor Mike Duffy said a 16-year-old boy from the Selby area with more convictions had taken the car when he failed to hitch a lift to Market Weighton.

The 14-year-old had gone with him, knowing the car had been taken without the owner's consent.

The 16-year-old pleaded guilty to snatching the car and his case was sent to another youth court where it was said he had other matters pending.

Updated: 11:16 Wednesday, April 04, 2001