'Most of us have done nothing wrong' - Colne teen speaks out over youths wreaking havoc in town

After multiple articles were published detailing the trouble gangs of teens have been causing in Colne over the last year, Aimee-Jade Beck, who is 17, contacted the Lancashire Telegraph to tell her side of the story.

She says while there are many issues and problems with youngsters in the town, from smashing car windows to general anti-social behaviour, not all teenagers are the same.

Teenagers are causing havoc in Colne

Miss Beck said: "There has been many issues and problems in Colne, such as cars being smashed, windows being smashed, unsocial behaviour and cheeky behaviour, but we’re all being grouped together and tarred with the same brush, and it’s not fair.

"The behaviour of the minority is disgusting and needs to be punished, but we shouldn’t all have to feel the wrath of angry adults due to their selfish actions."

Miss Beck says that things took a turn for her when the Colne McDonald's banned all groups of youths from entering the restaurant, exclaiming that the youngsters who were well behaved were being punished for no reason.

She continued: "We were all banned from McDonald’s whether we were naughty or not.

"This is just one of the many punishments that we’ve all had to face.

Colne kids have been misbehaving again

"As small as it is, to kids who do not cause mischief it’s irritating and it creates resentment, as most of us have done nothing wrong."

Miss Beck said before Covid hit, she and a group of friends entered the Sainsbury's in Colne in order to use the toilets but after two or three minutes, staff entered the toilets and ordered them to leave.

She said: "Both male and female staff came bursting in with cameras in their hands and told us to get out.

"This upset me a lot.

Ex-councillor says more needs to be done to tackle anti-social teens wreaking havoc on streets of Colne

"These are just some of the many things that happen to all youths in Colne whether we are good people or bad and it's not fair at all.

"We get tutted at, gawked at, shouted at, taken photos of for just simply walking down a street.

"It’s appalling and before lockdown it made some of us worried to leave the house."

A police car was attacked by youths in Colne

The 17-year-old says she condemns the teens who are causing trouble just as much as the adults in her town do, but is pleading with the adults to punish the culprits as a group alone, rather than lumping them all in one pot.

She added: "We get bashed enough and I think our side of things needs to be voiced as well as all the articles about us all being bad.

"I think there needs to be a shirk down of the councillors in Colne as well - they say they are taking action and engaging with teens but I from where I'm standing, they are not."

The problems with anti-social teens in Colne is ongoing

At the beginning of the month, Pendle Borough Councillor, Cllr Margaret Foxley said issues were being dealt with behind the scene, and solving the problems wasn't as simple as just punishing the youngsters.

She said: "I am extremely concerned about these incidents.

"There is a great deal happening behind the scenes and there are confidentiality and safe guarding issues which need to be respected.

"Rest assured many people are working hard to prevent these kind of incidents and anti-social behaviour from escalating."