Alfie Patten, now 23, arrives at Lewes Crown Court today to face sentencing for assault
The man who once claimed to be Britain’s youngest father avoided jail today after going on a drunken rampage smashing up cars and property.
Alfie Patten, now 23, of Hailsham, East Sussex, said in February 2009 how he believed that he had made his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman, then 15, pregnant when he was just 12.
The case shocked Britain but DNA tests later that year established that a 15-year-old boy called Tyler Barker was in fact the father of the girl, Maisie.
Today, Patten appeared at Lewes Crown Court to be sentenced after being convicted of criminal damage.
The court heard Patten was now a jobless alcoholic who lived at home with his mother and has a history of criminal offences.
He already had a 24-month suspended prison sentence hanging over his head after being convicted on June 14 of shoplifting, theft and possession of an imitation firearm.
But on July 11 he got drunk and began swearing and shouting at an elderly resident before damaging cars in the street and near his home in Hailsham.
Hannah Hurley, prosecuting, said Patten kicked a van, damaged a Skoda car and broke a fence while swearing and shouting at an elderly resident.
She said: ‘He was drunk, swearing and being aggressive. He was running up and down the road. He was seen arguing with vehicles and shouting at them.’
Patten was just 13 years old when he was said to have fathered a child with family friend Chantelle Steadman, 15. However, a DNA test later proved Alfie was not the child’s father
Patten was seen ‘staggering’ around and was arrested by police and put in a patrol car. But he then spat inside the car causing it to be taken out of service and cleaned.
Wearing a blue sweatshirt with a yellow eagle on it the front, Patten’s family – including his sister and mother – were in court to support him.
Nutan Fatania, defending, said Patten was desperately trying to tackle his severe alcohol problems and his GP was seeking medical and psychological help for him to reduce his drinking.
She said: ‘This is a young man who is aware of the concerns that are at play here. He wants to improve to become normal and seek peace rather than continue the destructive, chaotic behaviour that is deeply dangerous to his health.’
Patten (pictured at court today) is now a jobless alcoholic who lives at home with his mother
Lewes Crown Court was told Patten had five convictions for 12 offences for theft and shoplifting and drank alcohol each day.
Judge Janet Waddicor warned Patten he should have faced an automatic jail sentence for breaching the earlier suspended sentence but claimed prison was not the right place for him.
She said: ‘Your GP think prison would be a very bad outcome for you and I agree. You are drinking dangerously high levels of alcohol.
‘Anyone can see you are a slightly built young man and the amounts you are drinking must be causing so much damage to you, to your liver.
The case shocked Britain but DNA tests later established that a 15-year-old boy called Tyler Barker (pictured in 2009) was in fact the father of the girl, Maisie
‘There aren’t many people in your position who would have the family support you have. Most would have washed their hands of you.’
She imposed a separate suspended sentence of one month and one week for the criminal damage offences as well as extending a rehabilitation order already in place.
Judge Waddicor told him: ‘You’ve got a tough journey ahead of you but you cannot keep offending while drunk.’
Patten left court with his family today after being warned his behaviour needed to improve and any breach would mean both suspended sentences could be activated resulting in being sent to prison.
The 2009 case prompted a national debate about morality and teenage pregnancy with then Tory leader David Cameron saying it raised ‘worrying’ questions about modern Britain.
Alfie lived in this £435,000 detached house in Hailsham, East Sussex, at the time of the story
Alfie met Chantelle in 2008 at the age of 12 while playing out in the streets of the East Sussex village of Lower Dicker, where they both lived.
His mother thought the friendship was innocent enough and as Alfie has not gone through puberty she later claimed she had no worries about them being left alone.
He sometimes stayed at her house and it was after one sleepover that Chantelle told him she him she was four months pregnant.
In February 2009, Maisie Roxanne was born weighing 7lbs and 3oz and Alfie was thrown into the role of father.
He later said: ‘It was a crazy time. Holding Maisie for the first time was amazing. I was too young to understand the consequences of being a dad but I liked holding her and immediately loved her.
Maisie was born at Eastbourne District General Hospital in East Sussex in 2009
‘The amount of attention it got was crazy. Everywhere I went people knew who I was. I couldn’t leave the house for weeks. I had to have time off school.
‘I saw the baby every day. I fed her and changed her nappy. I barely played my computer games.’
But six weeks later he was hit with the bombshell that he was not the father and their mutual friend, Tyler Barker, was the real father.
He told how he cried for days and was doubly upset because Chantelle and her family moved away and he couldn’t see the baby Maisie anymore.
Patten left court with his family today after being warned his behaviour needed to improve and any breach would mean both suspended sentences could be activated resulting in being sent to prison.