Three youngsters caused £11,223 damage when they set fire to play equipment at the Lido park in Droitwich, Worcester Crown Court was told.

When one of them, now aged 13, came before a juvenile court, he was made the subject of an eight-month referral order and told to pay £2,388 compensation.

But when the other two came before another bench, their referral orders were for only five months and their compensation bill was £1,500 each.

Pilloried

Nicolas Cartwright, appealing on behalf of the 13-year-old, claimed that the sentencing was inconsistent and had resulted in the boy being pilloried as the ringleader.

Judge Ian Morris, sitting with magistrates, reduced the penalty to the same as the other boys and said he was glad to hear that the boy was being made to contribute £400 of his savings towards the compensation.

The boy had also set fire to a tree in the park and had daubed graffiti on subway walls, said Tariq Shakoor, prosecuting.

The damage to the play area had been caused by stuffing toilet paper into part of the metal slide and setting fire to it.

The judge described it as "an appalling act of vandalism" and said the culprits would have been taken into custody had they been older.