A (Secure Accommodation)

This judgment was delivered in private. �The judge has given leave for this version of the judgment to be published on condition that (irrespective of what is contained in the judgment) in any published version of the judgment the anonymity of the child and members of his family must be strictly preserved. �All persons, including representatives of the media, must ensure that this condition is strictly complied with. �Failure to do so will be a contempt of court.

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THE��� JUDGE:� A is the child with whom I am concerned.� He was born on 13 th March 1999 and is, therefore, 15 years old.� His mother is M.� A is the subject of an application by Lancashire County Council �for a secure accommodation order pursuant to section 25 of the Children Act 1989.� Lancashire has been represented by Miss Hobson of counsel, A�s mother by Miss Wall of counsel and A himself by Mr Allen of counsel, instructed by his children�s guardian, Z.�

A was first accommodated by the Local Authority in 2011.� He has not lived with his mother since then.� He was made subject to a care order on 14 th June 2012 amid a background of chaotic lifestyle on the part of his mother, her abuse of drugs and alcohol and violence between her and partners. �His childhood was marred by all of those factors and they justified the care order that was made.� He has not, therefore, lived at home with his mother since 2011.

This matter first came before me on Thursday of last week.� At that point, A was at the end of a custodial sentence consisting of a detention and training order of four months which was imposed on 7 th April of this year, 2014.� His release date was 7 th June 2014.� That date fell upon a Saturday and he could not be lawfully detained, therefore, beyond Friday, 6 th June.� He had, by the end of last week served half the period of his sentence.� The plan for his release was that he should be under a curfew and subject to a tag.