London, Sep 19 : A criminal damage worth just 1pence has cost the UK government 1,000 pounds.

The Crown Prosecution Service charged a 15-year-old boy after he owned up to ripping the handles off a plastic bag, worth 1p, belonging to a 13-year-old girl.

Following the charge, prosecutors are being accused of wasting taxpayers’ cash.

The girl's parents called police who passed a file to the CPS, and the case is believed to have cost 1,000 pounds.

Police could've put their money into chasing something more important,” the Mirror quoted the boy’s father, as saying.

The boy said that he pulled the bag from the girl outside a school classroom in July as a "prank".
 
Meanwhile a reparation order is being prepared. Defence Andrew Hobson told Swindon youth court that the CPS followed the case because of "distress" caused to the girl. (With inputs from ANI)