STEALING a police car, toting a ball bearing gun in the town centre and threatening his parents with knives are just some of the crimes that have been committed by one 16-year-old boy from Swindon.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffers from an attention deficit disorder and has been uncontrollable since birth, according to his mother.

She said: "He shook the cot until it fell apart and ripped nappies to shreds. That was the start of our never-ending nightmare."

Her son is one of around 14 teenagers who are put up in local hotels because their parents cannot cope with them.

Their welfare becomes the responsibility of Swindon Council's social services, which has to find these vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds "supported independent living".

But this mother claims housing her son in a motorway service station hotel was a recipe for disaster.

He had been staying in the M4 motorway Travel Lodge when he and his friends stole the marked Vauxhall Omega from an unmanned police office at the Chieveley services near Newbury and drove it at speed before crashing into a wall.

Swindon magistrates were told that when the boy was arrested he was found to have police property including a speed gun, breath test kit, handcuffs, baton, police radio, anti-stab vest and other clothing.

He is now locked up in a young offenders institution after being sentenced to a one-year detention and training order.

The order means he will spend the first half in custody and the second six months receiving help in the community.

Meanwhile, his mother has lost patience with his outrageous antics.

She said: "He was left stranded in a Travel Lodge on the M4 with nothing to do other than watch TV. This arrangement is asking for trouble.

"But this latest escapade came as no surprise. He is a law unto himself. Not even the police can keep up with his craziness."

Unable to keep rules or take orders, he was expelled from several schools. Thumping and swearing at teachers, dancing on desks and jumping out of windows were just some of his notorious classroom activities.

Once formally diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and Tourette's syndrome, he was sent to a special school for children with emotional and behavioural disorders. But when he started threatening staff and pupils with BB guns, exclusion was the only option.

His mother said: "No one will touch my son. Even community services and anger management have washed their hands of him. He is a liability and risk to the public.

"There is no thought process. He simply acts on a whim, regardless of the consequences. The fact he gets off scot-free encourages him to perform even more ridiculous illegal stunts."

Experimenting with drugs and alcohol also form his favourite pastimes. And tearing around at 60mph on a motorbike without tyres, switching off the water mains and smashing scores of windows also feature on his list of illicit hobbies.

"He cannot function like a normal human being," his mother said. "He is desperate and needs professional help.

"I contemplated emigrating to Spain or even suicide to escape the emotional turmoil and non-stop havoc.

"People look at you in disgust, as if I am responsible for his wild behaviour. But I am powerless, just like the police.

"It is the most painful thing in the world to think your son is a lost cause. But his future looks bleak because the system cannot deal with him. He will probably have to kill someone before his problems are taken seriously."