A TEENAGER was told at the High Court in Perth yesterday that he will require lifelong supervision due to his record of violence.

Darren Cornelius (18), a prisoner in Edinburgh, became one of the first people in Scotland to receive the lifelong restriction order as well as being detained for five years. The sentence effectively means he will remain behind bars until he is deemed safe for release.

He had admitted punching Daniel Sweeney and repeatedly stabbing him with a knife in Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh, on March 17 last year. He left his victim severely injured and permanently disfigured.

Cornelius had told police he was stabbing an invisible man called “Ian” that only he could see.

Lord Bracadale said Cornelius would stay behind bars while he continued to be a serious threat to the public. “For someone your age you have an extraordinary record for violence. A detailed assessment of your risk makes alarming reading.

“Taken as part of your pattern of behaviour, if you are at liberty there is a likelihood you will seriously endanger the lives of members of the public.”

He ordered Cornelius to serve a minimum five years in detention and placed him on the lifelong restriction order.

In 2000, Cornelius, then aged 11, was charged with attempted murder after stabbing a nine-year-old girl eight times—narrowly missing an artery in her throat.

He was not prosecuted for attempted murder because he was shown to have a mental age of less than eight, the age of criminal responsibility.

A children’s panel hearing ordered him to spend just 17 months in secure accommodation.

When he was 15, he was tried for a number of sex offences against two girls—including his original victim—but the case collapsed due to lack of evidence.

His defence counsel Susan Watt told the court in Perth he was starting to show some insight into his offending.

“He is still a young man. He has suffered from a considerable number of difficulties in his childhood and growing up,” she said.