Violent crime carried out by children and teenagers has gone up by a third in only three years, it can be disclosed.

 

The number of under-18s convicted or cautioned over violent offences rose from 17,590 to 24,102 - an increase of 37 per cent.

 

The evidence of rising youth offending comes amid public concern over youth crime following the murder of Garry Newlove, a father of three who was beaten to death as he stood up to a street gang.

 

Three teenagers were convicted of the crime last week amid revelations that the gang leader and repeat violent offender Adam Swellings, 18 at the time, had been freed on bail only hours before the killing. Helen Newlove, the victim's widow, said: "For too long, young thugs have got away with a slap on the wrist."

 

The youth crime statistics, uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph within Ministry of Justice reports, relate to offenders aged 10 to 17 who were either convicted in court or issued with a police caution. Total offences climbed steadily from 184,474 in 2003 to 222,750 in 2006, the last year for which figures are available - a rise of 21 per cent. But the increase in violent offending was steeper, while robberies rose even more dramatically, up 43 per cent over the three years. By contrast, adult convictions and cautions increased by less than one per cent.

 

More than half of young offenders were let off with cautions, whereby they admitted their offence but were spared a court appearance and were not punished.

It can also be disclosed that:

A police officer whose daughter was assaulted by Swellings claims the justice system has "lost sight" of its mission.

 

Three-quarters of all violent crime suspects are freed on bail while awaiting Crown Court trials.

Convictions of under-18s for carrying knives and other weapons doubled in a decade, from 1,909 in 1997 to 4,181 in 2006.

 

Police chiefs will launch plans this week to tackle young offenders and stop children turning to crime.

 

Gordon Brown has signalled a review of bail laws as pressure grows over Swellings and the case of Garry Weddell, a murder suspect also freed on bail who went on to murder again this month before taking his own life.

 

The Association of Chief Police Officers will publish its youth crime strategy on Thursday with an emphasis on prevention. It will call for truancy officers to be based in police stations, so they can visit the homes of children caught skipping

school and causing trouble. It will endorse the stationing of police officers in schools, where they can "nip in the bud" bad behaviour.

 

The report, It's Never Too Early, It's Never Too Late, will identify 24 "risk factors" such as family breakdown, underachievement at school and drug-abusing parents, which can lead children to crime. It will set out four steps for tackling youth crime - engaging with young people, supporting child victims and witnesses, helping those who may turn to crime, and responding to offences.

 

The conviction and caution figures for youth offending provide a precise measure because they include only "solved" crimes. The two "headline" crime rates - offences reported to police, and British Crime Survey findings - cannot distinguish between adult and youth offending because most crimes go unsolved.

Only 24 per cent of suspects awaiting Crown Court trials on charges of violence were held in custody at any stage in the proceedings during 2006, Ministry of Justice figures show.

 

Ministers released the figures after a parliamentary question by David Laws, the Liberal Democrat children's spokesman, who asked how many crimes were committed by young people. He called the answer "deeply disturbing".

 

A Home Office spokesman said: "There is no evidence that the number of violent crimes committed by young people is increasing. The rise in cautions and convictions represents better enforcement and an improved criminal justice response to violent crime."

 

Source : Sunday Telegraph

 

 

The simple answer is increased prison and very severe sentences, if it means building more prisons then so be it, prison for me is the answer not these stupid ASBO's which chavs boast about, commit a crime then you are doing time if I was home secretary

Repeat offenders should be sedated 24/7, either at home under parents supervision or in a facility , as punishment.

End of problem if they can't get out of bed to create havoc on the streets.

If they were treated as mental patients instead of criminals , the coolness factor would no longer be an attraction.

Jail and the threat of jail doesn't seem to be working.

no surprise, and its only getting worse with feckless parents not giving a damn where there kids are or what they are getting upto. parents should be LEGALY responsable for their kids behaviour upto 18, make the parents responsable for their scummy kids will make them become better parents. teach the bratts how to behave in a civilised society.

no surprise, and its only getting worse with feckless parents not giving a damn where there kids are or what they are getting upto. parents should be LEGALY responsable for their kids behaviour upto 18, make the parents responsable for their scummy kids will make them become better parents. teach the bratts how to behave in a civilised society.

 

I can see where you are coming from but equally it could be counter productive, I could see kids who hate their parents committing crimes to get their parents in trouble and that kind of thing

 

If they were treated as mental patients instead of criminals , the coolness factor would no longer be an attraction.

 

With all due respect, that is utter nonsense... And it diminishes the facts that people diagnosed with serious, recognised mental problems cannot help themselves they are regarded as having a 'diminished mental capacity', whereas the vast majority of these scummy little chavs most certainly can help themselves....

 

You cant just go around drugging people willy nilly either, considering the fact that this is how most of these morons actually live their lives, it would hardly be much of a change for them... -_-

I can see where you are coming from but equally it could be counter productive, I could see kids who hate their parents committing crimes to get their parents in trouble and that kind of thing

 

doesnt matter... if they were brought up to respect their parents and be accountable to them it wouldnt matter if they hated their parents or not. those that continuously disobay the rules should then be treated as criminals by the authorities.

First, the headline is misleading. The figures refer to the number of convictions. The number of offences may or may not have gone up by a similar amount. It could just be that more cases are being brought to court rather than being left unresolved.

 

Second, we need to be clear what "violent crime" is. When the term is used, we all think of crimes where the victim ends up being seriously hurt. However, that is not the case. In most violent crime, the victime doesn't need to seek any medical attention at all. That's one reason why many offenders don't receive a custodial sentence.

 

So, while I don't deny that violent crime is a problem, we shouldn't exaggerate the scale of the problem.

With all due respect, that is utter nonsense... And it diminishes the facts that people diagnosed with serious, recognised mental problems cannot help themselves they are regarded as having a 'diminished mental capacity', whereas the vast majority of these scummy little chavs most certainly can help themselves....

 

You cant just go around drugging people willy nilly either, considering the fact that this is how most of these morons actually live their lives, it would hardly be much of a change for them... -_-

 

How do you know if the majority can or can't help themselves or that they are or aren't mentally ill?

This isn't exactly NORMAL behaviour is it? :wacko:

 

I don't think that sedating violent out of control youth is actually drugging anyone "willy nilly" meaning without reason/grounds for heavens sake.

 

And there is a huge difference between sedatives and antii-psychotics drugs and street drugs like crystal meth, cocaine, heroin, speed etc.

And it WOULD be a huge change for them if they got some mental assessment and some help (which usually means psychiatric drugs, like it or not).

Rather than left to run riot and create havoc on society and themselves.

 

The byline of the name of this thread is.......What can be DONE to reduce it.......I think my suggestion is anything but "utter nonsense" Grim.

 

How do you know if the majority can or can't help themselves or that they are or aren't mentally ill?

This isn't exactly NORMAL behaviour is it? :wacko:

 

It's not "normal" behaviour, but it sure doesn't mean that they have an actual mental disorder either, or that they are mentally incompetent to the degree that they cannot distinguish that their actions are wrong (which is the legal definition if you are to mount a defence based on mental incompetence)... That's just a cop out if you ask me, what, now everyone who commits a criminal act of just about any variety can now argue that they're mentally incompetent...? Bollocks. The vast majority of these people are not "mentally incompetent", they're just plain bloody ignorant and disrespectful, and most of them act within groups or gangs, people who are genuinely mentally unstable tend to act alone....

I don't think that sedating violent out of control youth is actually drugging anyone "willy nilly" meaning without reason/grounds for heavens sake.

 

And there is a huge difference between sedatives and antii-psychotics drugs and street drugs like crystal meth, cocaine, heroin, speed etc.

And it WOULD be a huge change for them if they got some mental assessment and some help (which usually means psychiatric drugs, like it or not).

Rather than left to run riot and create havoc on society and themselves.

 

If there's no genuine medical reason or grounds for prescribing these drugs to people, of COURSE it's willy nilly.. And you totally fail to recognise the facts that anti-psychotic drugs are every bit as potentially addictive as the likes of Heroin or Crack, especially if they are to be given out as you seem to be suggesting, just to 'keep people quiet', as opposed to there actually being a proper medical reason for prescribing them.. A drug dependency is every bit as debilitating no matter if the drug is illegal or if it is prescription.... Ever hear of "mother's little helper".....? Is it more socially acceptable for a person to become hooked on prescription drugs like valium or prozac...? What if the 'psychiatric assessments' dont actually turn up any evidence of their being any kind of properly defined mental disorders..? Would you still force them to take the drugs...?

 

Sorry mate, but forcing "medication" onto people without there being any proper medical reasons sounds positively Orwellian if you ask me.. The State drugging people to keep them "under control", yeah, like that wouldn't be abused or anything..... <_< You ever read a book by Phillip K Dick called "A Scanner Darkly"? I suggest you do so....

 

First, the headline is misleading. The figures refer to the number of convictions. The number of offences may or may not have gone up by a similar amount. It could just be that more cases are being brought to court rather than being left unresolved.

 

Second, we need to be clear what "violent crime" is. When the term is used, we all think of crimes where the victim ends up being seriously hurt. However, that is not the case. In most violent crime, the victime doesn't need to seek any medical attention at all. That's one reason why many offenders don't receive a custodial sentence.

 

So, while I don't deny that violent crime is a problem, we shouldn't exaggerate the scale of the problem.

 

I second that.. Good points mate...

no surprise, and its only getting worse with feckless parents not giving a damn where there kids are or what they are getting upto. parents should be LEGALY responsable for their kids behaviour upto 18, make the parents responsable for their scummy kids will make them become better parents. teach the bratts how to behave in a civilised society.

 

I agree with the overall points, but I would make the age of parental responsibility to be 16 as opposed to 18, 16 year olds can get legally married, have kids, set up their own homes, get jobs, etc, so I reckon this should be the cut-off point....

 

It's not "normal" behaviour, but it sure doesn't mean that they have an actual mental disorder either, or that they are mentally incompetent to the degree that they cannot distinguish that their actions are wrong (which is the legal definition if you are to mount a defence based on mental incompetence)... That's just a cop out if you ask me, what, now everyone who commits a criminal act of just about any variety can now argue that they're mentally incompetent...? Bollocks. The vast majority of these people are not "mentally incompetent", they're just plain bloody ignorant and disrespectful, and most of them act within groups or gangs, people who are genuinely mentally unstable tend to act alone....

 

Oh boy. Okay Grim.

 

EVERY SINGLE ONE of these youths is just an ignorant , disrespectful bast*rd/b**ch who are totally NORMAL with no MENTAL ILLNESS OR DISORDERS and just do it all for fun. :rolleyes:

 

And there is a huge difference between having a mental disorder and being mentally incompetent.

Edited January 23, 200817 yr by Naomi Watts

EVERY SINGLE ONE of these youths is just an ignorant , disrespectful bast*rd/b**ch who are totally NORMAL with no MENTAL ILLNESS OR DISORDERS and just do it all for fun. :rolleyes:

 

The ones who go around in groups doing this sort of thing most certainly are... And, erm, have you been on You Tube recently and seen all the videos these little b/astards put up of themselves committing crimes, "happy slapping", etc...? Yeah, they ARE doing it for what they define as "fun".... They're certainly degenerate little fukks, but this does not mean that they have an actual mental disorder such as manic depression, bi-polar or schizophrenia which would perhaps compel them to act violently... 'Control' is the issue here, these people are in control of their actions, they choose to act violently, a person with a mental problem has no such control or choice.. People with mental problems are tormented souls who I have every sympathy for, whereas these "happy slapping" little fukks are just little degenerates who should be put away in prison....