A JUDGE has lambasted a Taunton teenager describing him as 'potentially one of the most dangerous young men' he had come across in his many years in court.

Judge David Ticehurst was sentencing the 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at Taunton Crown Court on Wednesday, April 19 after he was found guilty for one count of sexual touching.

Following a lengthy trial, the boy was cleared of 12 other charges, including rape and sexual assault, made by four complainants.

But Judge David Ticehurst described the jury's decision as 'bizarre' and said the teenager should regard himself as 'extremely fortunate'.

Sentencing the youth, Judge Ticehurst said: ""I think you are potentially one of the most dangerous young men who has ever appeared in front of me. Your perverted interest in young girls is a matter of grave concern.

"You say you were treated unjustly and that the policeman ‘had it in for you’. The policeman in question is an experienced officer who has dealt with many of these cases and in his view you are dangerous, and based on the evidence I have heard during the course of your trial, I share that view."

The sexual touching incident the boy was found guilty of happened when he was 13 with a girl in the year below him at school.

"You are arrogant and think little of anything other than yourself, you lied about the existence of your father and you misled young girls for one reason, your own sexual gratification," Judge Ticehurst said.

"There was what can only be described as a bizarre and anomalous decision by the jury and you may regard yourself as extremely fortunate.

"I hope you realise the enormity of the situation in which you find yourself, I hope you realise the trauma you have caused your victims.

"I watched you give evidence, and I was horrified. You should be thoroughly and utterly ashamed of the way you behaved."

Judge Ticehurst sentenced the 16-year-old to a two-year youth rehabilitation order, a two-year sexual harm prevention order which restricts his use of social media, and restraining orders were put in place preventing him from contacting the complainants of the trial.

He was also required to sign the sex offenders register and ordered to undertake rehabilitation activity requirement.

Prosecuting, Sean Brunton read a victim impact statement from the girl which outlined how the boy's actions had caused her to suffer severe anxiety.

Defending, Rebecca Bradberry said the teenager had already effectively 'lost the last two years of his life' as he had been taken out of full-time education and 'uprooted' as a result of the trial.