Young Offenders
Justice
Written answers and statements, 4 November 2009
David Howarth (Cambridge, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many 10 to 12 year-olds were convicted of each category of criminal offence in England and Wales in each year since 1997.
Claire Ward (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Watford, Labour)
Information showing the number of 10 to 12-year-olds found guilty at all courts in England and Wales from 1997 to 2007 (latest available), broken down by offence type, can be viewed in the following table.
Data for 2008 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010.
| Number of defendants aged 10 to 12 found guilty at all courts for all offences, broken down by offence type, England and Wales, 1997 to 2007( 1, 2) | |||||||||||
| Offence type | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Violence against the person | 73 | 96 | 114 | 130 | 151 | 177 | 174 | 160 | 168 | 156 | 142 |
| Sexual offences | 16 | 11 | 20 | 10 | 21 | 27 | 10 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 26 |
| Burglary | 240 | 314 | 356 | 313 | 321 | 336 | 264 | 279 | 283 | 233 | 217 |
| Robbery | 68 | 64 | 78 | 78 | 129 | 113 | 118 | 134 | 89 | 97 | 141 |
| Theft and handling stolen goods | 562 | 840 | 951 | 936 | 914 | 767 | 719 | 715 | 685 | 623 | 710 |
| Fraud and forgery | 2 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 11 |
| Criminal damage | 101 | 137 | 218 | 202 | 231 | 234 | 218 | 212 | 230 | 192 | 226 |
| Drug offences | 2 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 33 | 26 | 32 | 31 | 29 | 23 | 22 |
| Other indictable offences | 39 | 47 | 70 | 79 | 72 | 79 | 77 | 68 | 65 | 67 | 59 |
| Indictable motoring offences | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Summary offences (excluding motoring) | 384 | 598 | 881 | 1,051 | 1,129 | 1,048 | 1,092 | 1,173 | 1,256 | 1,237 | 1,237 |
| Summary motoring offences | 36 | 52 | 61 | 47 | 72 | 56 | 74 | 67 | 54 | 62 | 63 |
| All offences | 1,526 | 2,169 | 2,784 | 2,875 | 3,086 | 2,886 | 2,786 | 2,874 | 2,895 | 2,718 | 2,857 |
| (1 )The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform. | |||||||||||