Good news: Troubled teenager Korrel Kennedy puts ASBO life behind him to become a catwalk fashion model
Last updated 7/20/2010 11:30:29 AM
Korrel Kennedy - photo credit Scott Trindle
He was apparently branded one of the most problematic youngsters in Brighton, but Korrel Kennedy is turning his life around, with a new career on the catwalk.
Korrel was reportedly handed an ASBO at the age of fourteen, banning him from most of his East Sussex home town. He vowed to do better.
In a letter to his local he begged locals for a second chance insisting he had seen the error of his ways. "I feel this has given me the wake-up call I needed and as from now I am going to try my best to be a better person," he wrote. "I believe it's time for a change and I will do my best to right my wrongs."
By chance, he was spotted in a tattoo parlour and snapped up by London's Soho-based agents M&P. Now aged 17, he's a model at magazine shoots and has donned Jean Paul Gaultier's range for a Paris Spring/Summer fashion show.
It's all a far cry from the days when Korrel had a series of run-ins with the police. His mum reportedly defended him at the time, claiming he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. "I have been trying to get him help for years but we have been let down by every agency," she said. "I don't accept that he is any worse than most kids. He's not going out there stabbing people or mugging grannies."
Korrel is now exploring a modelling career, putting his ambition to become a plumber on hold in the meantime.