Crime and Justice
A fall in children entering the Youth Justice System
First-time entrants into the youth justice system, England and Wales
There was a drop in the number of children entering the justice system for the first time in 2007/08. Numbers of ‘first time entrants’ aged 10 to 17 entering the Youth Justice System in England and Wales were around 87,400, a fall of about 7 per cent on the previous year.
Slightly more than 2,700 of children in this age group were in custody in England and Wales in December 2008, including around 500 children aged 15 and under. The majority of young offenders in custody were boys (94 per cent). More than four-fifths (86 per cent) of young offenders were held in Young Offenders Institutions, 8 per cent were in Secure Training Centres and 6 per cent were in Secure Children’s Homes.
Around 51,000 children aged 10 to 17 were found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 and a further 75,000 were cautioned. Of those found guilty of an indictable offence, more than a third (36 per cent) were found guilty of theft and handling stolen goods and around 14 per cent were found guilty of violence against the person. Boys aged 15 to 17 accounted for 69 per cent of all children found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 including theft and handling stolen goods (11,200 offenders), violence against the person (5,500 offenders), drug offences (4,600 offenders) and burglary (4,500 offenders).
Homicide victims under 16, by relationship to suspect, 2007/08, England and Wales
There were at least 69 killings in England and Wales where the victim was aged under 16 in 2007/08, accounting for around 9 per cent of all offences currently recorded as murder or manslaughter. Of these, 79 per cent were killed by someone they knew, including 43 children (62 per cent) who were killed by their parents. In comparison, ten homicide victims (14 per cent) in this age group were killed by strangers. There were 24 child homicide victims aged between five and 15 and 45 child homicide victims were aged four and under. Around 62 per cent of all children murdered were male.
Source: Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board,
Notes: There are three types of accommodation for children in custody: Secure Children’s Homes accommodate between six and 36 children at one time, usually girls aged up to 16 and boys aged between 12 and 14, although this type of accommodation is also used to house boys who are considered vulnerable. Secure Training Centres are similar to Secure Children’s Homes. They have units with between 58 and 87 places, with a maximum of eight places for each house within the unit.
Young Offenders Institutions, which are run by the Prison Service and private sector companies, take offenders between the ages of 15 and 21. Indictable offences are the more serious crimes and include murder, manslaughter and rape.
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