A JUDGE has again barred the Adver from printing photos of a 16-year-old boy accused of terrorising his community – this time over fears ongoing tensions may lead to vigilantism.

District Judge Simon Cooper ordered that no pictures of Shovell King should be published after he extended the teen’s interim anti-social behaviour order for three months.

King, of Swanage Walk, who attended Swindon Magistrates’ Court with his mother yesterday, appeared at court in July, when he was given the temporary order banning him from having a dog with him in a public place and going out of the house without his mother between 9pm and 7am every day.

The order also prevented him from throwing stones and other objects at property or people and prohibited him from shouting or using threatening behaviour towards people in the street.

The court action came in the wake of an incident near King’s Moredon home, when two-year-old Keiron Guess was mauled by a dog thought to belong to the teenager.

And Swindon Council solicitor Francis Maples said there had been tensions within the community as a result.

While praising King for not breaching the conditions of his order, Mr Maples said there had been incidents of provocation over the last three months.

“There was one such incident, which is not being viewed as a breach due to the degree of provocation and the view is, it would be best if the order were to remain in place to assist in the cooling down process.

“I believe Shovell heeded the warning and deserves credit. He is happier within himself – he is back in full-time education and has ambitions to go into the RAF.

“The objective of the local authority in bringing asbo proceedings is to prevent crime and disorder, and I would have thought there was a real risk if a photo was published in the Adver some third party might be prompted into a vigilante attack.

“What happened to the child was completely deplorable, as making matters worse by some sort of revenge attack on Shovell or his family would be.”

Judge Cooper allowed an application by King’s defence to reduce his curfew in the evenings to 10pm and told the teen he expected him not to breach the order before he returns to court on January 4.

And, in deciding to uphold his photo ban, the judge said: “In reaching my decision not to allow photos to appear in the press, I consider it would not be appropriate to stir up more tensions in the community at a time when relations appear to be settling down.”