ALMOST £20,000 worth of damage was caused to one of Newport’s main shopping centres when a 12-year-old boy went on a vandalism spree.

The boy appeared at Cwmbran Youth Court yesterday, where he admitted causing criminal damage to property belonging to Newport City Church, which is based at the Cambrian centre.

The boy – who cannot be named because of his age – yesterday admitted targeting metal shutters and an alarm system worth £4,390 belonging to the church, together with another youth.

The boy pleaded guilty to intending to destroy or damage the property or being reckless as to whether it would be destroyed or damaged in relation to the attack, which happened between December 23 and 29, 2011.

He previously pleaded guilty to an identical charge of criminal damage covering the same period, when he caused damage amounting to £15,000 to windows and doors belonging to Dussman Services. Chairman of the bench Tony Harris granted the boy bail and he will appear at the same court on April 17 for sentencing.

The Argus applied to lift reporting restrictions on naming the defendant, but the application was refused because of the boy’s age.

The criminal damage, which happened when the church was closed for Christmas, left officials, including Pastor Robbie Howells, shocked.

While it was insured for the damage, Mr Howells pointed to all the work the church had done in the community over that period, such as giving money to Women’s Aid and raising money for night shelters across the city.

He said he was shocked someone would cause criminal damage without knowing the role of the church, but still said he wants to help the youngster responsible.

Mr Howells said: “We want to give him work at the church as part of any community service, we’ll put him into shape.

“A lot of young people get into mischief and it’s a continuous cycle with the behaviour continuing.

We can try and help him.”

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Pastor’s stance commendable

IT is unfortunate that we are not able to name the 12-year-old boy who went on a £20,000 vandalism spree in Newport’s Cambrian shopping centre.

While we understand the magistrates’ reasons for keeping reporting restrictions in place because of the boy’s age we do not agree with them.

The scale of the damage caused by this lad makes this an exceptional case and we think that this is an occasion when naming a juvenile would be justified.

When this youngster re-appears in court next week we hope magistrates think long and hard about the most appropriate sentence they can hand down.

We do not want to see this boy locked up. But we do want to see him given a punishment that will help this young man to understand the impact his behaviour has had on his victims.

We hope they take into account the desire of one of the vandal’s victims – Newport City Church – to help the boy. Forgiveness from a church should not come as a surprise but in today’s world the reaction of Pastor Robbie Howells is still commendable.

Mr Howells, whose church suffered almost £4,500-worth of damage, says he wants the boy to work at the church if he is given a community service sentence.

He wants to help stop the boy’s behaviour turning into an endless cycle of criminality.

We applaud Mr Howells’ attitude. We hope magistrates take account of his offer.

And we hope the boy’s parents also take note of what Mr Howells is saying.

They have a responsibility for their son’s actions. It is a responsibility we would hope they take seriously. They should certainly be grateful for Mr Howells’ stance.