A 12-YEAR-OLD boy - described as a 'Pied Piper' of crime - has become one of the youngest offenders in Greater Manchester to be given an ASBO.

Angelic-looking, 4ft 5ins Oliver Clinch, who is nicknamed `Chucky' and has been excluded from his school, has committed 60 crimes in the past 12 months, police said.

His catalogue of offending includes public order offences, criminal damage, theft and car crime.

Police confirmed that he has smashed windows and abused passers-by.

The majority of his crimes were carried out in the Little Lever area of Bolton - some specifically against an off-licence.

Officers in Little Lever compiled evidence of his offending and a joint application for an ASBO with Bolton council was presented to magistrates in the town as Clinch pleaded guilty to 11 offences.

Criminal damage

They were two criminal damage counts; two public order offences, three common assaults; theft of alcohol from an off-licence; driving a car without insurance; driving a car without a licence and taking a car without the owner's consent.

The car crime charges relate to his aunt's vehicle, the court heard.

The two-year ASBO, agreed by magistrates, will run until July 2009. Under its terms, Clinch, a former pupil at Little Lever High, must not behave in an anti-social manner so as to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person not of his household, possess alcohol for himself or another in any place, except at home; enter Tong Road from its junction with Lancaster Drive to its junction with Paramel Avenue in Little Lever; enter a defined area of Little Lever bordered by Church Street, Lever Street, Hill Top, Radcliffe Road, Bradshaw Brook, Back Bowness Road and Church Street; enter the grounds of Little Lever School outside school hours; remain on any public premises if asked to leave by any person; approach four named people and be in the company of five named youth in a public place.

Sgt Frank Hall, whose beat patch is Little Lever, described Clinch as a `Pied Piper' who attracted other young offenders in a gang and said the community would be a safer place because of the banning order. His offending first came to the police's attention in May last year.

Crime wave

Sgt Hall said: "He does seem to attract other young individuals to his criminality. People have said that he is a crime-wave and he has caused a lot of problems for the community of Little Lever.

"We think that it is Bolton's youngest ASBO. The volume, and types of his crime, have had a massive impact. It has caused massive distress and upset to the community. The majority of our time over the last 12 months has been taken up with dealing with this young person.

"We will not tolerate this behaviour and this level of criminality and this case sends out a strong warning to others. If the community tells us that he has breached the order, or the police catch him, he will be arrested and dealt with."

A council spokesman said: "Although Oliver Clinch is only 12 years old, he has been repeatedly causing problems for the residents of Little Lever and in just a one-year period he has been connected with more than 60 crimes.

"This order sends a strong message to people that we will not tolerate this sort of behaviour in Bolton and if needs be, similar action will be taken against others who behave in this way. Anti-Social Behaviour Orders are only used in extreme circumstances when other methods have been exhausted and, in this case, Oliver's behaviour continued despite our efforts. We hope the order will give the residents of Little Lever some respite from his repeated abuse of the community."