A Real Prospect of Increasing Use of the Youth Court for the Trial and Sentencing of More Serious Crime
| Published date | 01 December 2015 |
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1473225415601519 |
| Subject Matter | Legal Commentary |
Youth Justice
2015, Vol. 15(3) 286 –293
© The Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225415601519
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Legal Commentary
A Real Prospect of Increasing Use
of the Youth Court for the Trial and
Sentencing of More Serious Crime
Nigel Stone
Any criminal justice system that seeks to pursue a developmentally informed and astute
approach to the prosecution of children, adhering to principles that prominently include
the provision of a distinctive, separate venue for their trial and sentencing, will need to
determine in what instances it may be appropriate to conduct proceedings against young
persons in an adult court because of the gravity of the allegations or the seriousness of the
crime.1 This issue has been the focus of past Commentaries (see e.g. Stone, 2010) but is
worth revisiting in light of the recent judgement of the Divisional Court in England and
Wales in R (on the application of the Director of Public Prosecutions) v South Tyneside
Youth Court and B. [2015] EWHC 1455 (Admin).
The case concerned the prosecution of a B., a boy without prior convictions who was
alleged to have taken sexual advantage of his young male cousin on three occasions at age
14/15, when the latter was aged 6 and 7 and was visiting B.’s home, by putting his penis
into the child’s mouth and the child’s penis into his own mouth. The child had complained
to his grandmother in February 2014. DNA originating from B. was recovered from the
child’s underwear, evidence that was deemed consistent with the child’s allegation. When
interviewed B. denied the allegations, offering an innocuous explanation for the presence
of his DNA. B. was charged with three offences of oral rape of a boy under the age of
13 years (contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.5 (an indictable-only offence in the
case of an adult defendant, punishable by life imprisonment) and one charge of inciting a
child under 13 to engage in sexual activity contrary to s.8 of that Act (an either way
offence in the case of an adult defendant, punishable on indictment by a maximum of
14 years’ imprisonment).
Corresponding author:
Nigel Stone, School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Elizabeth Fry Building, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
Email: n.stone@uea.ac.uk
601519YJJ0010.1177/1473225415601519Youth JusticeStone
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