Some young people need a firm hand

These were retrospective and he accepted he would probably not have asked for these things when he really needed them and, had they been offered, might well have resisted them - at least at first.

His story was, to me, one that is all too predictable, although it did take others who were listening somewhat by surprise. He hadn't been a bad kid, he said, but when his mum shacked up with a new stepfather, there was friction (and violence) between the man and the boy from the start. It was not long before he started running away and sleeping in the park. That was the end of his schooling and the start of his offending, although the police were as much the only providers of support as the instigators of his journey through the youth justice system. Theft transmuted into robbery and then the use of weapons to liberate possessions and money from their owners. A lengthy custodial sentence ensued. Now in his early twenties, he is endeavouring to turn a corner, but his prospects remain unpredictable. Lack of qualifications and the criminal record see to that.