Redditch X Factor star says sorry for crime past

Sep 27 2009 by Adam Aspinall, Sunday Mercury

A YOUNG Midland X-Factor hopeful who was exposed as a knife-wielding thug apologised for his violent past yesterday.

Teenager Curtis Moore bowled over celebrity judges when he appeared on the hit ITV show last weekend.

The 16-year-old turned up at the summer auditions wearing an electronic tag which he proudly showed off to host Dermot O’Leary before going on stage.

The cocky teen then got into a verbal tussle with Simon Cowell, ending with the music mogul telling him to ‘zip it!’

Moore went on to deliver a soulful performance of Ne-Yo’s song Let Me Love You which earned him four yes votes from judges.

But it was later revealed he has a history of drug taking and violence and had terrorised parts of his hometown of Redditch, Worcestershire.

Yesterday Moore apologised for his past behaviour, including posing with knives on the internet. The teenager, who made it through to the boot camp stage of the show last night, said: “I’m sorry. I was so stupid.

“I was 13 and trying to be cool. The older kids carried knives so I just wanted to be like them.”

He told how he robbed victims in Redditch, Worcestershire, and twice ended up in a young offenders’ institute.

“I never carried a knife daily,” he added. “I knew you could get five years. And I know people who’ve been stabbed.”

Moore now lives in Walsall with foster parents after his mother decided to get him away from bad influences in his home town.

Earlier this week a former neighbour revealed that the teen was a member of a well-known gang of troublemakers.