TWO teenagers who caused hundreds of pounds of damage to football equipment will make amends by volunteering at the club.
Drum FC had equipment and money stolen, while nets were set on fire at St Thomas More RC Primary School, off Boothferry Road, west Hull, where they play their games, in the space of a few weeks.
Now, having confessed to the damage, the 13 and 15-year-old boys will meet a representative from the amateur men's club and offer their apologies.
The pair, of the Boothferry estate, will also attend the first few matches of the football season and help put the nets and corner posts out, clear the pitch of any rubbish and tidy the changing room after the match.
PC Andy White, who patrols the area, said: "Both the offenders attended at the Kirk Ella Police Station with their parents and admitted starting the fire.
"As a result of this admission both were visited by the fire service for fire awareness to hit home the seriousness of the matter.
"The kids were remorseful and it really hit home what could have happened."
Restorative justice is a way of allowing offenders to face up to the impact of their crimes.
PC White said: "Restorative justice has to be victim-led and is for minor offences, enabling perpetrators to face up to what they have done and the impact it has caused, rather than them signing a bit of paper and having their parents pay a fine for them.
"In this case they have to do something themselves and they can see who has been affected by what they have done.
"In this case they might also get interested in football in the future and could even play for the team.
"The kids were happy to do it and the football club have been really supportive."
Dave Nichol, chairman of the amateur football club, has praised the outcome.
He said: "Going through the court system would probably be a waste of time so this seems a better idea.
"We're going to meet with the two lads in the next week or so to have a chat and then they will help us out for a few weeks on match days.
"They know they have done wrong.
"Hopefully, meeting us and this kind of punishment could turn them around and they might even play for the football team in the future."
The club, which has been going 21 years, recently bought two Portakabins through grants and fundraising, which are used as changing rooms.
However, a lock was broken and football nets were stolen on May 23. It followed an earlier raid in which money, a first aid kit and footballs were stolen.
Mr Nichol said: "When the two lads come down to see us they will see who has been affected and see how many people enjoy playing for the club.
"We have two clubs and each team has 30 to 40 people watching them, so the damage has affected a lot of people. We are a club with limited resources and following the damage we have had to fund raise for new nets."
