A HELENSBURGH teenager has been jailed for 12 months for a series of public order offences around the town.

Megan Gregory appeared in court on Friday for sentencing on charges of shouting, swearing, playing excessively loud music and smashing the window of a close door at her home address in Drumfork Court on April 11.

Gregory, 19, also breached a community payback order imposed for a previous offence.

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court she was handed consecutive three-month jail terms for offences committed in March of last year in East King Street and in April, July and August 2016 in John Street.

But on the Drumfork Court case, her sentence was deferred so that a social work report can be obtained to ensure a package of support is in place when Gregory is released from custody.

Gregory's solicitor told the court her client had been in care since the age of 12 and had “struggled to function as an adult in the community” since leaving the care system.

Her lawyer said: “It was always going to be a difficult transition. It's a sad situation now leading to her being a nuisance to the public.

“She knows what the effect of her actions has been., but at the time she's not fully possessed of all the copping mechanisms enabling her to assess what her actions will lead to.

“The support she has received recently from social work has not been very extensive when you pick away at it. It's obvious a person who has been in care is going to struggle to manage without someone at her shoulder.”

Gregory had previously admitted charges of assaulting a woman and scratching the door of a car in East King Street on March 9, 2016, and of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner in John Street on April 26, April 29, July 29 and 30 and August 27.

Sheriff William Gallacher told Gregory that her community payback order would be revoked and three-month sentences imposed on each of the 2016 cases.

The sheriff said: “I told you the last time I'd had enough. I'm still not willing to completely throw away the key, because I still think there's something that can be done to enable you to contribute positively for your good and everybody else's good.

“The social work report will be provided so I can make sure support is in place.”