Youth Justice News
| Author | Tim Bateman |
| Published date | 01 August 2010 |
| Date | 01 August 2010 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1473225410375006 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Youth Justice
Youth Justice News
10(2) 186–196
© The Author(s) 2010
Reprints and permission: sagepub.
co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1473225410375006
yjj.sagepub.com
Compiled by Tim Bateman
Almost Four Hundred Children in England and Wales Sentenced to
Custody Each Year for their First Offence
Figures given in answer to a Parliamentary question on 7 December 2009 by Maria
Eagle – Under Secretary of State for Justice – indicate that during 2008/09, 377 children
below the age of eighteen years with no previous reprimands, warnings or convictions
received a custodial sentence. As shown in Table 1, this represents a slight fall in absolute
terms over the previous year but constitutes a slightly increased proportion of all custodial
sentences imposed.1
Table 1. Young people with no previous convictions or pre-court disposals sentenced to custody as a
proportion of all children sentenced to custody
Year
Number sentenced to custody Year Total number of
Proportion of custodial sentences
with no previous offending
custodial sentences imposed on first time offenders (%)
2006/07 374
2006 6183
6
2007/08 396
2007 5830
6.8
2008/09 377
2008 5498
6.9
The figures are also indicative of a rise in the proportion of first time entrants who receive
a sentence of detention as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. First time entrants sentenced to custody as a
proportion of all first time entrants
Year
Number of first time entrants sentenced to
custody per 1000 first time entrants
2006/07
3.4
2007/08
4
2008/09
4.8
Corresponding author:
Tim Bateman, Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Bedfordshire, Park Square, Luton LU1 3JU, UK.
Email: tim.bateman@beds.ac.uk
Bateman
187
The information provided by Maria Eagle’s answer was not a full response to the
question asked which sought to establish how many children were given a custodial
penalty after pleading guilty to a first time offence. The relevance of plea where children
are convicted for the first time is that, if the offence is imprisonable, sentencing options
are limited: the court can impose an absolute discharge, a hospital order, a referral order
or custody. In the large majority of such cases, therefore, courts are required to select
between the latter two penalties. Previous research has found that sentencers are critical
of this ‘stark choice’, particularly where the offending is at a level of seriousness such
that there is a risk of imprisonment. The referral order, which ends the court’s involve-
ment and refers the case to a youth offending panel to determine – in negotiation with the
young person and other interested parties – the appropriate elements of intervention, was
considered to be ‘insufficiently rigorous’ to function as a demanding alternative to cus-
tody. This was particularly so given that most young people subject to the order are
likely to have committed relatively minor offences. Some sentencers reported that, in the
absence of what they considered to be a viable alternative, they have on occasion resorted
to custody where they might have been persuaded to impose a high-tariff community
order had one been available.
The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales has recognised that the legislative
provisions pose a dilemma for sentencers that may increase the use of custodial detention
for children and young people appearing in court for the first time. As a consequence, the
Board’s ‘Case Management Guidance’ proposes that where the court is deciding between
a referral order and custody, youth offending teams should consider convening an ‘infor-
mal’ youth offender panel prior to sentence to determine the likely elements of the con-
tract in the event that a referral order is made. The pre-sentence report can then provide an
indicative outline of the anticipated programme which might include ‘intensive’ interven-
tion up to twenty five hours per week. The formal decision as to the nature of the contract
can only be made, however, following sentence by the formally constituted panel.
Note
1 It should be noted that the two sets of figures cover different time periods. The data for first time entrants
sentenced to custody relate to financial years whilst the figures for total custodial sentences are derived
from ‘Criminal Statistics’ and relate to calendar years
The Under Secretary of State’s answer is given at Hansard,HouseofCommons,Column130W,7 December
2009.
Sentencers’ views of the restricted sentencing options available where a child is convicted for the first time
are discussed in Aitka-Reena Solanki and David Utting (2009) ‘Fine art or science: sentencers deciding
between community penalties and custody for young people’, available at: www.yjb.gov.uk/Publications/
Resources/Downloads/Fine%20art%20or%20science_fullreport.pdf
The Youth Justice Board’s Case Management Guidance is available at: www.yjb.gov.uk/Publications/Scripts/
prodView.asp?idproduct=470&eP=pp
188
YouthJustice10(2)
Research Suggests that Girls Affected by Serious Youth – and
Gang-related – Violence in England and Wales have been
‘Largely Ignored in Both Policy and Practice’
Research published by Race on the Agenda notes that there is a serious evidence gap as to
the impact of serious youth and gang violence on girls and young women. Policy initia-
tives highlighting the issue have tended to take a ‘non gendered approach’ and have had
the potential to ‘increase the victimisation of gang affected women and girls … without
appropriate services in place to negotiate the risks they face’.
The research draws on 352 interviews with females affected by youth violence, either
as gang members themselves or as sisters, girlfriends or mothers of gang associated young
men. It found that there is little reliable intelligence on the numbers of girls at risk from
gang violence and that agencies struggle to collect this data in a coordinated fashion. This
absence of data undermines the proper targeting of available services and inhibits the
development of additional resources. Gang associated girls are unlikely to disclose vic-
timization...
To continue reading
Request your trial