Last week, two youngsters from Thornbury House care home in Kidlington allegedly took a kitchen knife to steal car badges. This led to a confrontation with Alf Kenchington, whose £22,000 Saab was damaged. He claims one youth threatened him with a knife. At the same time, young people living at Holme Leigh, a care home in north Oxford, were accused of making life a misery for residents. Andrew ffrench visited Thornbury House, which includes a new secure unit, to talk to staff. Terry is an 11-year-old boy in care at Thornbury House due to "family problems". His carers won't reveal the specific details but suggest those staying at the centre have either been victims of physical or sexual abuse or have lacked love and attention from their parents.

Whatever problems Terry has experienced at home, he is a cheerful teenager, who enjoys a bowl of Frosties for breakfast before practising his favourite sport, golf. He attends school, where he cites maths as an interesting subject. But when his lessons finish, he dreams of becoming a professional golfer.

His pal at the home, 16-year-old John, when asked about his favourite subject, cheekily replies: "Staying in bed!"

While both youngsters can clearly be quite a handful, they are fully aware of the systems of discipline that are in place to keep them in check.

The children in the home have been placed in care, not in detention, and therefore the staff have strict legal constraints on how they can mete out punishments. They are not allowed to send the children to bed "without any supper", and they can only advise the youngsters on what time they should be home each night, depending on their age. Rather than impose punishments which will lead to confrontation, staff employ a points-win-prizes incentive scheme to encourage good behaviour.

When youngsters were shown the Oxford Mail story detailing allegations about cars being vandalised, they were "ashamed", according to Ian Macho, the manager of Thornbury House.

"I thought there might be some sort of adverse reaction," he said, "but it was quite the contrary, they were very subdued."

Mr Macho added: "We operate incentive schemes so that if children behave well or do carry out a service for the community, they will get a small monetary reward. We try to reward the positive rather than concentrating on negativity. These kids come to us extremely disturbed and feel alienated from their families and society.

"We use all sorts of specialists and a behavioural approach to try to help the children fit back in to the everyday world." The "softly, softly" approach to punishment involves an individual care scheme, and a log-book system, where any misbehaving is recorded and then reported back to the children's parents. Inside the home, wrong-doing might include anything from staying out late to setting off the fire alarm in the middle of the night.

But once youngsters start committing crimes outside the home, staff will immediately contact the police.

According to Fran Fonseca, service manager for Oxfordshire children's homes, the county is fully in favour of Home Secretary Jack Straw's £13m drive to tackle "bail bandits", who commit multiple offences while awaiting trial.

Mr Macho added: "One of the major problems we have experienced in the past is the delay between the time when youngsters are arrested for a crime and when they are eventually dealt with. They need to be made to address what they have done wrong as soon as possible."

New powers for courts to lock up young people before they appear in court will come into effect this summer and more money will be spent making sure defendants who stay in the community keep out of trouble and turn up at court on time. The new court powers to lock up youngsters aged 12 to 15, provided for in the Crime and Disorder Act, will take effect from June 1.

At the moment, many young tearaways can only be sent to secure accommodation after they have been sentenced.

In the near future, young offenders on remand could be sent to Thornbury House's secure unit, which has recently been refurbished and has room for seven boys. If youngsters become too much of a handful at Thornbury House and repeatedly offend while they are in residential care, they could ultimately find themselves in detention next door. Mr Macho explained that Social Services refer youngsters to a large number of different agencies before they "give up" on an individual.

"There comes a point where the staff feel they can't do any more but that doesn't mean we have failed. You can only do so much and then it is someone else's turn to try," he added. "You can have a last resort for an 80-year-old but not for children ten times younger and if they do go to a locked facility, then preparations need to be made for when they come out."

Staff are only too well aware of the anxieties of local residents. But while they admit youngsters may be tempted to commit crimes, they are anxious that the children don't simply become scapegoats.

Phil Hodgson, assistant director of Oxfordshire Social Services, said: "There is a danger that every time a crime is committed, the finger will be pointed at Thornbury."

While local residents continue to object to the presence of children's homes on their doorsteps, staff continue the slow but sure process of preparing youngsters for their biggest challenge - behaving themselves once they return to society.

* Names in this article have been changed to protect the identity of the children.

Story date: Wednesday 10 March

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