Youth Justice News
| Author | Tim Bateman |
| Published date | 01 December 2012 |
| Date | 01 December 2012 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225412465686 |
Youth Justice
12(3) 258 –268
© The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225412465686
yjj.sagepub.com
Youth Justice News
Compiled by Tim Bateman
Concern that Courts in England and Wales May Impose
Curfews in ‘Inappropriate Situations’
The imposition of curfews in cases involving children below the age of 18 years has
become increasingly popular in the recent period. As indicated in Table 1, the number of
curfew orders rose from 1293 in 2002/3 to 8367 in 2008/9, the last full year that such a
disposal was available as a stand-alone order. Over the same period, curfews as a propor-
tion of all sentences imposed also increased from 1.4 to 7.6 per cent. For offences com-
mitted after 30 November 2009, all existing community sentences for children were
replaced by the youth rehabilitation order to which a range of requirements − including a
curfew − could be attached. Figures for subsequent years are not accordingly available in
a comparable format. However, in 2011/12, the total amount paid to contractors providing
electronic monitoring services to the Ministry of Justice (in respect of both adults and
children) stood at £116.9 million.
Of those children sentenced to a curfew order during 2009/10, 67.6 per cent were
reconvicted within a year, a recidivism rate higher than that for any other non-custodial
youth disposal.
Corresponding author:
Dr Tim Bateman, Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Bedfordshire, Park Square, Luton LU1 3JU, UK.
Email: tim.bateman@beds.ac.uk
465686YJJ12310.1177/1473225412465686Youth JusticeBateman
2012
Table 1. Curfew orders imposed on children and curfews as a proportion of all youth sentences:
2002/3–2008/9
Year Curfew orders Curfew orders as a
proportion of all sentences
2002/3 1293 1.4%
2003/4 3272 3.1%
2004/5 3256 3.0%
2005/6 5655 4.8%
2006/7 7020 5.9%
2007/8 8143 6.7%
2008/9 8367 7.6%
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