Ref. 25741-44That's what Swindon Council says Liam Walsh, 13, is to the people of Penhill. They have slapped a court order on him but his parents insisted today: 'Our son is not such a bad lad'

JACKI Walsh still remembers the day when she was at the shop where she works and a council employee handed her a copy of the leaflet she was distributing about an interim ASBO given to a local teenager.

Mrs Walsh looked and saw her own son's face staring back at her from she sheet.

She said: "Can you imagine how I felt?

"I told the woman that was my son, but she just left."

Jacki, 36, and husband Robin, 41, who works for Honda, are the first to admit that Liam is, as they put it, no angel.

But they say that he is no worse than most and a lot better than many.

They are not the only ones who feel this way.

Shortly after the interim order was granted, the couple raised a petition asking local people to sign if they felt that what had happened to Liam was unfair.

So far more than 500 people have signed.

Mr Walsh said: "The response we have had from the people of Penhill, including people we don't even know, is that what has happened is wrong.

"Liam is a boy, and I think he does boyish things."

As far as Mr and Mrs Walsh are concerned, much of the behaviour which led to the ASBO being made was that of a group of which Liam was a part, rather than that of Liam himself.

They also say that one of the main instigators of the nuisance was a man living in the area who encouraged the boys to run riot.

Mr and Mrs Walsh, who also have an older son and a younger daughter, also reject out of hand the notion that Liam was the leader of the group he was involved with.

Mr Walsh said: "The oldest in the group was 19, and the youngest was 12.

Can you see a 13-year-old telling a 19-year old what to do?"

By far the most upsetting aspect of the case, the family says, is the handing out of the leaflet to about 2,500 Penhill homes shortly after the interim order was granted.

Mr Walsh said: "We have had three pieces of hate mail coming to our door."

Mrs Walsh added: "The support I have had from people coming into the shop has been unbelievable.

"A lot said they were disgusted when they saw the leaflet."

A random sample of local people also felt that Liam was hard done by.

Full-time mum Tracy Walls, 28, of Pewsham Road, said: "Liam has never done me any harm.

"There were leaflets flying around from the council, and I thought that was disgusting.

"There are children round here who have done far worse things, but it seems Liam is being picked on."

Michelle Watkins, 25, also a full-time mother and a Penhill resident, added: "We all thought that what happened to Liam was out of order."

Liam himself prefers not to say much in public about the affair, and hopes eventually to train as a mechanic.