A BOY of seven is terrorising his neighbourhood - and his desperate mother fears he may end up killing or seriously injuring members of his own family unless she can receive help.

Sharon Jones says her son, Adam, has already threatened his family with knives, kicks and punches them, spits and screams obscenities. He has set fire to the kitchen five times.

Mrs Jones, 38, of Luton, Chatham said: "I am scared that Adam will kill someone. I can't let him out of my sight and I daren't let him take his three-year-old brother Jake out because I know that he could push him under a car. It is a nightmare and I desperately need help."

Mrs Jones said that Adam was diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactive disorder (ADHD) last year. He was put on to the drug Ritalin, but it was withdrawn after making him more violent.

Divorcee Mrs Jones, stressed: "I heard Jake screaming. Adam was trying to push him out of the window, saying he was going to kill him. I was absolutely terrified. I rang social services in tears begging them to take Adam away for a week but they wouldn't.

Mrs Jones says Adam has also attacked his other brother Richard, eight, who has spina bifida. Adam, who cannot read or write, also terrorises the neighbourhood, habitually trashing cars. On one occasion he smashed a windscreen. On another he stole a glue aerosol from a van and sprayed a car.

Mrs Jones is fighting for Medway social services to give Adam increased respite care and for him to be classed as a disabled child so that he can be sent to a residential special school.

A Medway Council spokesman said: "Services are provided to families with children living in the community when we have assessed and identified their needs. We have flexible resources to support these children and their families, ranging from involving other key voluntary agencies through to offering them a rest from caring for a short period of time.

"Medway Council is sensitive to the pressures on parents and will be working towards creating a response with other organisations in the future to support situations such as these."