Man who was youngest to get Asbo at age 12 says he hid being gay
A man who at age 12 became the youngest person to get an Asbo has said he terrorised his community as he hid his sexuality.
Danny Oakley and his brother Ricky were given Asbos (anti-social behaviour order) when the former was 12 years old.
They had caused mayhem in their home town of Wolverhampton, and were dubbed “demon children”, and “Asbros”.
At the time they were accused of property destruction, starting fires and racial abuse.
But now aged 21, Oakley tells the Sun that he was tormented by trying to hide the fact that he is gay.
He said: “I knew I was gay but didn’t want to be. I was a criminal and didn’t want to be.
“Dad would have hated me if he knew, so at 14 I tried to kill myself because the secret was torture.
“When you’re a thug on a council estate, being gay isn’t an option. I was living a lie.”
After his mum left their family when he was seven, Oakley says his dad disowned him when he found out he is gay at age 16.
After serving a jail sentence in April 2014 for not turning up to a probation session, Oakley now hopes to have turned over a new leaf, and has finished a business studies course at a college.
He continued: “I wish I could go back to our neighbours — everyone who was scared of us, everyone we hurt or whose property we damaged — and tell them I’m so sorry.
“I don’t drink, either. The new me is sober, clean and on the right side of the law.”
