A former child offender who inflicted a reign of terror upon his neighbours says that what he really needed was help from the system - and not punishment.
Danny Oakley became infamous in 2006 when, at the age of just 10, he was slapped with an ASBO alongside his brother Ricky.
The pair from Wolverhampton - nicknamed "Asbros" - notched up 40 arrests for crimes including burglaries, knife crime, arson and slashing people's tyres.
Their exploits were even featured on Channel 5's Running Riot back in 2014 as it was revealed they were still getting into trouble.
But now a grown man, it is clear that Danny has managed to turn his life around despite the odds against him.
The 29-year-old has come out as gay, and says that trying to suppress his feelings of being different led him to misbehave as he wanted to "escape reality".
He told Black Country Live: "I was a troubled kid and never really understood myself as a person.
"Being a gay lad, I didn't really know anyone else who was gay and I struggled with that.
"I didn't feel like I was 'normal' or 'right' compared to everyone else. I didn't know which way to turn and felt like I had no support.
"Mental health wasn't really spoken about then and the only way I could feel normal was to escape reality. So you get involved with drink and drugs at a young age.
"You get sold a dream by gangs who say they'll be there for you forever but you soon realise it is not worth it."
A short bout in prison in 2014 prompted Danny to change his ways.
He said: "Freedom is the most important thing in life. When that is taken away and you're locked in a cell, that's when reality hits home.
"I only did 28 days but for that time I was locked away and isolated. I felt suicidal and had no purpose in life and it showed me that I needed to change because if I didn't, I'd be right back there.
"It was a taste of what's to come for you if you carry on with bad behaviour."
Speaking on whether he was punished as a child, Danny continued: "People ask me what made me change and it wasn't getting arrested or getting ASBOs. When I was a kid I was being rewarded for bad behaviour.
"When I was naughty at school, I was taken to a naughty school where I got to do more trips, more one-to-one and more help. I realised it was better than mainstream school so I decided to be more naughty to stay there.
"When they want to put you back into mainstream school you start rebelling against the system and saying 'actually, if I carry on being naughty you'll just reward me.'
"When I was with the Youth Offending Team when I was 11 or 12, we had trips to Alton Towers and things like that. My parents could never afford things like that so it was such a treat to go out for the day.
"People actually try to help you and then once the order is ended all you want to do is get back to that. When I was a kid, I should have been shown what prison was like - that would have helped.
"If I had that, I might have changed. But going on trips and being rewarded for bad behaviour just didn't work."
Danny said that being in the press as a child had a huge impact, as people would cross the street when they saw him.
He continued: "The judge gave special permission to make an example of me and my brother. But when kids saw that, they could see how you could get 'famous' by being naughty.
"Kids were looking up to me for being a little s*** whereas I'm ashamed. Old people would cross the road when they saw me and put their phones in their bag.
"I'd never rob an old person in my life and would go out my way to help them, but because of this on the front page of newspapers it had a huge impact on my life.
"I couldn't go to mainstream school because people wanted to fight me and saw me as a celebrity. We were called all sorts like 'demon children from hell.'
"In today's standards that would have been seen as child abuse. I think I was the youngest contestant on the Jeremy Kyle Show.
"It was so difficult to sit on the stage and tell people your life story. I wonder how people got away with putting me out there like that when I was just a child.
"Your life is defined for you. You get called these things and you start to believe them and act up to it."
Danny is currently taking a mental health break from work as he seeks treatment for a personality disorder.
He now wants to be an example to troubled youngsters and "change perceptions of tracksuits and trainers", as well as a role model to other gay men who may be struggling with their sexuality.
He said: "It is really nice when stories go out and young lads tell me how my story helped them come out as gay.
"I'm used as an example in schools of how not to behave and have been asked to do talks to students. But because of my personality disorder, I'm not able to do that yet but it's something I'd like to do in the future.
"Being known for the right reasons now has a good effect on me. I want to tell people that crime isn't the way forward.
"If I was standing in Prime Minister's questions - they chat so much rubbish on a Wednesday it's like two ladies arguing - but I'd say to them that they need to open youth clubs for kids and school funding.
"The way kids see it today, they don't care. If someone has a £20,000 car on the drive they take it as it's insured. But I try to explain to them that it is not the way forward.
"I don't want people to think I'm proud of my past because I'm not. When people speak to me, they are surprised because they expect me to be like 'yo, wagwan' but that isn't me."
