The Age of the Child Criminal
August 27, 2009 10:33 PM
In Western Morning News
In Western Morning News
ONE million children have been convicted of a criminal offence since Labour came to power, triggering calls for more to be done to keep youngsters out of trouble.
In the Westcountry alone, there were 47,000 convictions for under-18s in the decade from 1997, with a further 67,000 receiving cautions.
Last night, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg claimed the Government had "criminalised a generation" and criticised the "disgrace" of 11 times more money being spent locking up children than helping them avoid a life of crime.
But the Ministry of Justice said it made no apology for tackling youth crime, which can have a "devastating" effect on local communities.
Among the children who have felt the long arm of the law in the past decade were almost 500 children aged just 10-12 in Devon and Cornwall. In the Avon and Somerset force area, the figure was 381 and in Dorset 148.
The number of children convicted each year has soared across the Westcountry.
In 2007, the latest year for which figures are available, 2,165 children in Devon and Cornwall were convicted of a criminal offence, up 67 per cent since 1997.
Avon and Somerset has seen a rise of 66 per cent to 2,250, and in Dorset the number has almost doubled to 1,019.
The Lib-Dems claim more should be done to tackle potential offenders before they enter the criminal justice system.
Minor offenders would be subject to Positive Behaviour Orders to "pay back the community they have wronged". The party has also proposed scrapping the national ID card scheme to pay for an extra 10,000 police officers.
Mr Clegg said "dragging" young people through the criminal justice system for minor offences only led to them graduating to a more serious life of crime.
"These shocking figures show how Labour has criminalised a generation of our children.
"It is a disgrace the Government spends 11 times more locking up our young people than it does on backing projects to stop them getting involved in crime in the first place.
"Labour talks tough on crime, and then creates more criminals. It's time to talk sense and act smart to stop the young offenders of today becoming the hardened criminals of tomorrow."
However, the Ministry of Justice hit back at the claims, insisting youth crime was "unacceptable and can have a devastating effect on communities and young people themselves".
A spokesman added: "We make no apology for tackling this head on. The Government's message is straightforward - there are firm boundaries and clear consequences for those who overstep them, but, also support for those young people who want to turn their lives around."
Despite defending the number of people who had been convicted, he said the Government has also "put a premium on preventing youth crime and intervening early". The measures had seen "significant progress", with a 10 per cent decline in the number of first-time young offenders between 2007 and 2008.
"The Youth Crime Action Plan is an effective £100 million cross-government strategy for dealing with a full range of issues around youth crime and justice - from early prevention and better targeted support to enforcement, sentencing and the use of custody."
Ros Kayes says:
It is a massive indictment that Labour has spent so much money on trying to reduce youth crime. These stats for convicted children make frightening reading - but they tell us that asbos & custodial sentences are not enough - where young people are engaged through Community Justice Panels & repaying the community for crime through compensatory labour - Positive Behaviour Orders - that ties the criminal into the community to make reparation.
I firmly believe that communities & we as parents must also take some responsibility for youth crime. Where are our children ? Why do we let under 16s stay out on the streets late into the night ? How can we expect schools to teach respect & self discipline when we don't support teachers ?
Many teenagers turn to crime because of fear - fear that if they don't join a gang or carry a knife they will be victimised by their peers, who in turn victimise others because they feel victimised. We need to address the impact that that kind of peer pressure has on our children - & that can only be addressed by youth workers, teachers, the police, families & communities working together to offer them something different.
It's not just Labour that have let down our youth - as a society we are all guilty !
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