FORMER teen tearaway David Young, who terrorised his Cheltenham neighbourhood, has said sorry to victims of his crimes and vowed to turn over a new leaf.
The 28-year-old was slapped with a 10-year antisocial behaviour order (Asbo) banning him from setting foot in parts of Hester's Way after a litany of offences including robbery, assault and racial abuse.
He achieved notoriety when he was the subject of a BBC Panorama programme detailing his misdemeanours and was the first man in the UK to receive an Asbo for racist conduct.
Now, he claims he has been free from trouble with the police for two years and is working hard to build a relationship with his children.
Speaking candidly to the Echo, David said he had felt stigmatised by the Asbo – claiming people used it as a reason to taunt him openly in the street.
"It didn't do me any favours at all," he said.
"I did feel victimised once I had the Asbo. Police would stop and search me without any reason and people would follow me round to see if they could get me into trouble.
"But I've drawn a line under the Asbo now. It's done and there's nothing I can do about it.
"I know I've made mistakes and I'm sorry for a lot of the things I did."
David was just 16 when he was given a 10-year Asbo in 2001. It was later reduced, running until 2008. The order cited more than 40 offences and included a condition that any racist behaviour would result in an immediate jail term after complaints about his abuse of black and Asian shop staff.
BBC's Panorama broadcast a programme on his exploits in March 2002. Among other things, it showed David attack a passerby in the street, swear at police and attack an Asian pharmacist in Coronation Square, Hester's Way.
It also showed footage of David and his father Jason Young assaulting a supermarket security guard.
David breached the Asbo on several occasions, landing himself in trouble with police, and has done several stints in prison as a result.
As a backlash from his law-breaking lifestyle, he said his family was evicted by the council and forced to move to Portsmouth.
However, David decided not to go with them but to stay in Cheltenham where he has two young children – a six-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.
He admits he is battling an alcohol addiction but hopes that living in supported housing he will be able to forge a new life.
"I want to have a proper relationship with my kids," he added. "That is why I am still here.
"My life is not perfect but I have not been in trouble with the police for a long time.
"I want to get a job and to work. The Asbo thing is behind me now and I just want to look to the future."
OPINION, P8
