A teenager has been given a 12-month supervision order for breaking a court ruling keeping him out of Rayleigh town centre.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has a lengthy criminal past.

Southend Youth Court was also told he lashed out at three police officers while resisting arrest, smashed two windows and stole his mother's car.

Breaking the Asbo, which forbids him from going into much of Rayleigh town centre without his parents, could have led to a five-year jail sentence.

But magistrates accepted the youth's mitigating argument that he thought he was allowed to walk through Rayleigh as long as he did not stop.