Will someone PLEASE help my son?

Church-going mother-of-three Julie Smith endured months of torment at the hands of 14-year-old Michael before taking the dramatic step after he started wrecking the family home.

Julie, 35, watched helplessly as the teenager turned from an intelligent, loving youngster into the son from hell.

She says in the end she was forced to turn her son into the police because she was getting no support in her battle to control him.

Julie, of West Bowling, Bradford, blinked back tears as she said: "It was heartbreaking, the hardest thing I've ever had to do. When the police came to arrest him they said: 'Are you going to be a good lad or do we have to handcuff you?' I could have screamed 'be good' because I didn't want to see him in handcuffs."

Michael was charged with criminal damage and fast-tracked to court where he was given six months probation.

But Julie is still trying to cope with her truanting, drug-taking son and she doesn't know where to turn to find help.

Single parent Julie, who also has two daughters, aged 12 and ten, moved to Bradford four years ago from Harrogate after the break-up of her marriage.

"Michael has always been full of beans. He is a very loving, intelligent, nice person," she said.

"He has a kind heart. When he was nine he raised £100 for Comic Relief and he gave a pound a week from his pocket money to buy tea towels for people in Bosnia."

He joined his family at church and was a doting brother to his younger sisters.

But he changed a year ago and Julie believes drugs are to blame.

Michael confessed to taking cannabis just before last Christmas.

Since then Julie's life has been a nightmare.

"He had been smashing things up in temper tantrums and occasionally playing truant from school for a while but things got worse after Christmas," she said.

"He just stopped going to school completely and was unkind to the girls. He got increasingly violent, he has grabbed hold of me, his language was terrible.

"He has thrown the TV on the floor, every room has suffered from his violent temper.

"I believe his behaviour has changed because of the cannabis."

Julie said she now keeps her money with her, even when she has a bath, because Michael steals it. She has caught him rummaging around her bedroom at night looking for money.

He also landed her with a bill for nearly £1,000 after ringing chat-lines on her mobile phone.

And he is nasty to the sisters he used to protect, even kicking one of them so hard in the hip he smashed a computer game she had in her pocket.

He has also left his mum nursing bruises after violently grabbing her arm and threatened to smash her glasses.

Julie had to give up work as a school support assistant because she is afraid to leave her son alone in the house.

But she said he now spends most of his time smoking cannabis at the flat of a 21-year-old man and often stays out until the early hours.

The final straw came earlier this month when Michael "went berserk" after Julie confronted him about not being at school.

"He started throwing things around the lounge. We had a big TV and he just picked it up and hurled it to the floor, smashing it.

"He absolutely trashed the room, it was like a bomb had gone off. Then he slammed the door until it came off its hinges.

"He even smashed the fish tank. There were three goldfish the girls had bought for me. I managed to save two of them but the other died.

"He came in the kitchen and put his fist through the microwave door. It just exploded. I was upset and scared and was trying to contact someone on the phone. He picked up my glasses and said he would break them if I didn't ring someone for him."

Despairing Julie decided she had to phone the police, who took a statement and said they would arrest him for criminal damage.

"It was so hard to phone the police and tell them my own son had caused the damage, and then having to show them what he had done, and tell them I wanted them to arrest him. I was crying.

"It was awful when they came to arrest him and took him away. I cried again but the girls said I had to do it.

"We haven't really spoken since. I didn't go to court because the police told me not to, but I should have been there.

"Now I don't know what's going on. He has a solicitor but he wont tell me who it is. He has to have meetings with the youth offending team but I don't have any details.

"I am responsible for him but I am told nothing can be done without his agreement, and he doesn't want to know.

"Things are going downhill but I am just feeling around in the dark. I need somebody to come and give me some advice but I can't get anybody."

Julie has had visits from a social worker and a member of the drugs rehabilitation unit at Bradford Council's social services department.

But she said they have assessed that Michael doesn't have a drugs problem and said the police and youth offending team are best placed to deal with her situation.

In a letter to Julie they said: "If your daughters continue to be effected to the point where they are in danger and being hurt by Michael, we would become involved on a child protection basis."

But Julie declared: "Something should be done now. They are going to wait until something goes wrong. Do we have to wait until someone ends up in hospital or one of my girls is pushed down the stairs when he is in a mood?

"I am strong and I insist on him knowing he's broken the rules. But I am scared of him.

"I just want my real son back but I need someone to help me do that."

A spokesman for Bradford Council Social Services said: "We have offered appropriate support to the family and would be happy to continue doing so if requested.

"The Youth Offending Team are now involved and will be addressing his offending behaviour."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed Michael had been charged with criminal damage at his mother's house and had been fast-tracked to court.

(Names have been changed for legal reasons)

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