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Gang given restraining orders at Folkestone magistrates after targeting couple in Coronation Square, Lydd

13:00, 06 May 2014

updated: 13:35, 06 May 2014

A gang of eight marauding teenagers who made an elderly couple's life hell have been slapped with restraining orders.

Graphic CCTV footage showed the group - one girl as young as 13 - banging on windows and kicking the couple's front door in Coronation Square, Lydd.

At times they repeatedly kicked footballs against the couple's home, often knocking off the Kent peg tiles from the front of the house.

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A thug kicks at the pensioners' door as they are subjected to anti-social behaviour
A thug kicks at the pensioners' door as they are subjected to anti-social behaviour
The gang's attack was caught on CCTV
The gang's attack was caught on CCTV

But when the couple asked them to stop they were verbally abused.

Now the eight have appeared in Folkestone magistrates court, after admitting harassing the pensioners.

The court heard how the couple decided to approach police when the aggravation became too much.

Patrols were stepped up in the area after officers talked to the couple and saw a diary of the harassment.

A dispersal zone was also set up, together with the installation of a CCTV camera, which captured evidence of the group’s behaviour and identified the teenagers.

A dispersal zone was set up in the area after the attacks
A dispersal zone was set up in the area after the attacks

Speaking after the case, Insp Mark Smith from the Shepway Community Safety Unit, said: "It is fair to say that this group made life a misery for the couple. They just wanted to be left in peace to get on with their lives.

"They did nothing to provoke this group except to live in a house near the teenagers’ meeting point.

The youngsters have all been given restraining orders after the abuse, in Coronation Square
The youngsters have all been given restraining orders after the abuse, in Coronation Square
The court heard the couple did nothing to provoke the teenager gang
The court heard the couple did nothing to provoke the teenager gang
"It is fair to say that this group made life a misery for the couple. They just wanted to be left in peace to get on with their lives" - Insp Mark Smith

"It was very clear to the neighbourhood team in Lydd and members of the community safety unit that this behaviour needed to be stopped.

"The camera provided compelling evidence that they should be charged and made to answer to the courts for their behaviour."

The eight included two boys aged 14, one aged 16 and a 14-year-old girl all from Lydd.

The others are a 15-year-old boy from Ashford, a girl aged 16 from Folkestone and a 13-year-old girl from Littlestone.

They cannot be named as they are under 18.

The eighth member of the group was Tiffany Prior, aged 20, from Fairview Drive, Ashford who was also conditionally discharged by the court for 12 months.

Video: The yobs caught in action taunting the elderly couple on CCTV

Members of the group were also ordered to pay compensation and costs of bringing the case to court.

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