Inventor Shows Device That Repels Teenagers

Howard Stapleton, a businessman and former electronics apprentice at British Aerospace, was so sick of youths hanging around outside his shop, that he decided to do something about it.

What he's come up with is a new gadget that repels gangs of teenagers by emitting a high-pitched noise that can usually only be heard by those under twenty.

It sounds to youngsters like an extremely close and loud insect. Police are backing the 'Sonic Teenager Deterrent', it's been nicknamed the 'Mosquito' because of its sound. It annoys teenagers so intensely that they have to clutch their ears until they decide they can no longer stand it and move on.

The black box that sends the signal can be attached to the outside wall of shops, offices and homes, and sends out 80-decibel bursts of pulsing sounds at up to 16khz. The body's natural ability to detect some frequency wave bands diminishes almost entirely after 20, so it can only be heard by younger age-groups and has no effect on adults.

Howard says he used his four children as guinea pigs. After he came up with a prototype of his device, he tested it at a local shop. "I got it so that only my kids hated it and my fiance� and I were completely unperturbed", he said.

And it seems to be serving its purpose. "We put up the prototype outside the store and almost immediately people stopped congregating", he added.

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