Teenager freed after plea on way to cells

10:06am Saturday 10th May 2008

A teenager locked up by a judge but freed almost immediately after a desperate plea said he was "the luckiest man in Bradford".

Liam Anderson, 19, shouted to Judge Roger Scott that he would lose everything after he was sent to custody for ten months yesterday.

He was audible in the courtroom begging for another chance from the stairs to the cells at Bradford Crown Court. His impassioned plea, politely addressed to "Judge Scott", moved the judge to let him go.

Judge Scott had sent Anderson, of Oakworth Road, Keighley, to a young-offender institute for breaching a probation order. He had carried out only seven hours' unpaid work after Judge Scott ordered him to do 80.

In January, Judge Scott sentenced Anderson to a community order with unpaid work for aggravated vehicle-taking and dangerous driving. He had been driving a car taken without consent that had hit a police vehicle.

Anderson told Judge Scott: "I've got my own home, a job, a college course and a dog."

Judge Scott ordered him to attend an Enhanced Thinking Skills course and added 20 extra hours to the order.

After he was freed, Anderson said he was the luckiest man in the Bradford area.

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