"I'M no angel but I'm not that bad."
Those are the words of 18-year-old Chelsea O'Connor, who has been branded a "terror" by her Linden neighbours.
A court this week ordered her to clean up her act or face going to jail.
Residents of St Paul's Road have said Chelsea has wreaked havoc on their sleepy street.
In an interview with The Citizen, Chelsea admitted that she had played loud music and been drunk.
But she said: "I've been bad in the past but I've sorted myself out.
"When we first moved in we got on well with the neighbours but a couple of years ago there was a row about the state of the garden and it all started from there.
"I admit I was playing music and getting drunk with my friends but I've never disrespected anyone. I'm not that sort of person.
"Now I've moved out because I'm scared what the neighbours are going to say about me next.
"I don't know why people are picking on me. They just don't like me."
She hopes that moving out and starting a course in carpentry and car mechanics will give her a "fresh new start".
Her mum Bridget, who has two other children aged 16 and 12, said: "At the end of the day, she's still my baby and she's only 18.
"She needs her mum but at the same time I don't want her to go to jail and living here means they are always going to find something to complain about.
"It's extreme that she is having to move out but I'm also thinking about doing the same."
The family of four have been accused of drug taking, not attending school, trying to kill a neighbour's cat and Chelsea herself was said to have rampaged over car bonnets.
But they say none of that happened.
A close family friend said yesterday: "Chelsea went to school with my daughter. It is normal for them to want to play some music and have a drink.
"On her 18th she even told the neighbours she was planning a little party but as soon as the music started they were straight on to the cops.
"As for Bridget, she would do anything for anyone. She's that sort of person."
Chelsea was given an anti-social behaviour injunction in March but was recently handed a 28-day committal order which was suspended until March 27, 2015, giving her the chance to clean up her act – or be locked up.
Lyn Ackroyd, chairman of Linden Residents' Association, said: "If she has turned her life around then good luck to her. I hope she does manage to do it. Everyone deserves a second chance."
