Ben White had pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers

Ben White, 19, who is barred from areas of Weston-super-Mare, was given 14-month sentence at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday.

The teenager, of Pembroke Road, had earlier admitted offences, including assaulting two police officers.

Judge Eric Salomonsen said: "These offences are so serious that only a custodial sentence will suffice."

The judge said White, who with brother Robert is banned from parts of Weston under an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), now had 14 convictions for 37 offences.

Police officers bitten

The court heard the teenager was "locked in a pitiful circle of doom" after finding it hard to cope with the restraints imposed on him by the ASBO in 2002.

At an earlier court hearing, White pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers, breaching his ASBO and breaching a 12-month Community Rehabilitation Order imposed on him in March.

Prosecuting, Christopher Ferguson said White bit two policemen when they tried to arrest him for breaching his ASBO in Weston-Super-Mare town centre.

Mr Ferguson said White tried to convince the officers he was a third, older brother, before hurling verbal abuse at them and threatening to smash a glass in their faces.

White also breached a 12-month Community Rehabilitation Order when he quit a 12-week course in Devon after just two weeks because of family problems.

Defending, Ruth Armstrong said on his return, White was rejected by his family and breached the order by failing to report to probation officers.

He was also sentenced for crimes he committed earlier this year, including theft, one count of actual bodily harm, two counts of common assault, interfering with a vehicle and three breaches of his ASBO.

Judge Salomonsen said the teenager must serve at least half of the 14-month sentence before he would be allowed out on licence.