40% rise in youth violence

7:12pm Thursday 15th May 2008

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Violent crime by young people has rocketed by nearly 40 per cent in just three years, new figures show.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) said violence against the person by under-18s leapt by 39 per cent, from just over 40,000 offences in 2003/04 to more than 56,000 in 2006/07.

The figure included a 50 per cent rise in violence by girls, and offences ranged from common assaults to murder.

Robberies committed by under 18s also saw a large rise - up 45 per cent, from 4,740 to 6,855 a year.

Other crimes which saw significant increases were criminal damage (up 32 per cent) and public order (up 17 per cent).

At the same time, there has been no change in the number of child criminals sent to prison, with numbers running at about 7,000 a year.

The biggest change in the way young criminals were dealt with was a sharp rise in the number handed community sentences - up 26 per cent over three years to 39,700.

Nearly 100,000 child offenders were dealt with by "pre-court disposals" - a slap-on-the-wrist by police. The category rose by 23 per cent to 96,000 from less than 79,000 three years ago.

In figures previously leaked last week, the report also showed the number of crimes committed by girls has risen by a quarter in three years - possibly linked with alcohol.

Girls committed 59,236 crimes in 2006/07, up 25 per cent from 47,358 in 2003/04.