a two-month stealing spree, received a tongue-lashing from Magistrate the Wor.

Cheryl Ann Mapp yesterday.

Before sentencing Anthony Dillworth and Aquil Richardson, Ms Mapp warned they were headed down a "serious path of destruction'' if they refused to reform their ways.

Ms Mapp said that the youths had acted together when, on four occasions, between March and April 1994, they drove up behind tourists' cycles and snatched handbags and cameras from the rear basket. Police recovered goods worth $211 and the charred remains of others.

But Ms Mapp gave the youths different sentences because Richardson, 17, of Sunnyside Park Lane, had already breached probation and community service orders. He was given a sentence of corrective training at the Co-Ed Facility at Ferry Reach -- a term which can last anywhere between nine months to three years depending on good behaviour.

When asked if he had anything to say, Richardson, who was represented by Miss Victoria Pearman, told the court, "I know I am responsible for my actions.'' On two charges of stealing, Dillworth, 18, was sentenced to 240 hours of community service. He was given two years probation on a third charge with a curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m..

Before sentencing, Dillworth, who was represented by Mrs. Patricia Harvey, told the court: "I realise how serious the crimes were and I'm sorry I committed them.'' In addition, both youths were told to pay $240 for each theft -- the maximum compensation the courts can order. The total of $720 was a mere "drop in the ocean'' compared with the $3,700 cash and goods stolen or damaged, Ms Mapp said.

"Some of the things you have destroyed will never be replaced but that's the best you can do,'' she said.

She ordered Dillworth to return to court in September for a review.

"This is not the end of the world,'' she told them. "It can be a beginning but that depends entirely on you.''