We are absolutely fed up with this boy but the tragedy is we can do nothing about it

South Wales Police officer expresses frustration

Just 4ft 6ins, he reportedly has to stand at the wheel to see through the road ahead.

Frustrated officers have complained they are "fed up" courts cannot detain the boy until his 12th birthday in May.

The latest appearance came as UK Government ministers encouraged youth courts across England and Wales to go easy on first-time offenders.

At Cardiff Juvenile Court, the youth - who cannot be named for legal reasons - admitted taking a car without consent, damaging a car and breaching bail conditions.

Nightly curfew

Those offences were alleged to have taken place just days after he appeared at the court last week on previous motoring offences, including dangerous driving.

South Wales Police suspect he is responsible for taking hundreds of cars in the last two years.

Under legal conditions, he is not even supposed to sit in a vehicle unless accompanied by an adult.

A nightly curfew, from 1900 GMT to 0800 GMT, and electronic tagging have not stopped him from re-offending time and time again.

Police have said the boy is a serial vehicle thief

Police officers have said he is responsible for a mini crime wave at his suburban Cardiff estate, where he lives with his mother.

But courts are powerless to legally detain or imprison him until he turns 12 - the minimum age for detention in a secure unit.

Magistrates have adjourned the latest case until 23 April, when psychiatric reports are compiled.

But the boy will return to the juvenile court on 8 April to face trial on a burglary charge.

A police officer said: "We are absolutely fed up with this boy but the tragedy is we can do nothing about it."

The boy's mother said: "If the justice system had clamped down on him in the beginning, then maybe things would have been different now."

Former Home Secretary Jack Straw introduced curfews

Under Tuesday's new Home Office scheme, youngsters aged 10 to 17 who admit to their first offence will be sent to new Youth Offender Panels, if the crime is not serious enough to warrant imprisonment.

Courts in England in Wales are now compelled to make offenders meet two local community volunteers and a local Youth Offender Team member to draw up a behaviour "contract."

They may be made to enrol in drug or alcohol therapy, anger management or victim awareness programmes.

Seven UK trials, including one in Cardiff, have found 74% of offenders have completed these referral orders.

But an independent analysis of programmes in west London found victims hardly ever attend the schemes, as advised.