New Clause 10 - Offence of abduction of child by other persons

Criminal Justice and Courts Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 5:00 pm on 27 March 2014.

Alert me about debates like this

‘(1) The Child Abduction Act 1984 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 2(1) (offence of abduction of child by other persons) for “sixteen”, substitute “eighteen”.’.—(Sarah Champion.)

At present, there is a disparity between the ages that children must be to be considered to be abducted depending on whether they are in the care system or not. This new Clause would rectify this disparity and set a consistent age of under 18.

Brought up, and read the First time.

Photo of Sarah Champion Sarah Champion Labour, Rotherham

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

The new clause deals with the second anomaly to emerge from my inquiry into child sexual exploitation. At present, the Children’s Act 1989 makes it an offence to remove a looked-after child from care without authority if they are under the age of 18. However, the Child Abduction Act 1984 sets the age limit for children who can be removed from those with the legal right to control them—for example, their parents—at 16.

Many witnesses who gave evidence to the inquiry questioned why a child in the care system should be treated differently from a child living with their parents. Although we know that children in care are particularly vulnerable and are disproportionately likely to be victims of sexual exploitation, the majority of victims—some 80%—are not in the care system. All children should be afforded the same level of protection.

The new clause would amend the Child Abduction Act 1984 so that all children up to the age of 18 are considered to be abducted if they are removed or detained without the authority of those with parental responsibility or without a reasonable excuse. Police currently issue child abduction warning notices to deter people they suspect of grooming children. The notices state that the suspect has no permission to associate with the child and that if they continue to do so they may be arrested for an abduction offence under the relevant legislation—either the Child Abduction Act 1984 or the Children Act 1989. Because the notices refer back to the relevant legislation, the police are able to issue a notice to protect a child under 18 if the child is in care, but only a child under 16 if they are not.

The new clause simply seeks to address an anomaly in the law to allow us to offer better protection to vulnerable children. The practical application of the new clause is that the police will be able to issue child abduction warning notices to deter people from grooming children who are under 18 regardless of whether they are in care. The change was suggested by many who gave evidence to the inquiry, including senior police officers from Cheshire police and Greater Manchester police who gave both oral and written submissions on the point. It is the view of those witnesses that this simple change would help us protect more effectively all vulnerable children from being taken away from their families and subjected to horrific sexual crimes. I am sure the Minister agrees that we have a duty to consider the change carefully, as the implications for child safety are considerable.

Photo of Andrew Slaughter Andrew Slaughter Shadow Minister (Justice)

I congratulate my hon. Friend on tabling the new clause, which is on another important matter. I do not know whether it will receive the same caveated welcome from the Minister. I simply say that  there appears to be an anomaly that my hon. Friend is seeking to correct and I hope that the Government will look sympathetically upon the new clause

Photo of Jeremy Wright Jeremy Wright The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

I simply observe in passing that it was the hon. Gentleman who suggested that I ought to caveat my welcome to the previous new clause by suggesting that I think about it carefully. I accepted his wise advice.

Coming back to new clause 10, I understand entirely the argument the hon. Lady makes and why she makes it. As she said, the general criminal law in England and Wales on child abduction is set out in part I of the Child Abduction Act 1984. Section 1 of that Act makes it an offence for a person with responsibility for a child, such as a parent, to take a child out of the UK without appropriate consent. Section 2 makes it an offence for all other persons to take or detain a child under the age of 16 so as to remove or keep him or her from a parent or other person’s lawful control. The maximum penalty for those offences is seven years. Her new clause would change section 2, so that an offence would be committed when the person abducted was under 18.

I understand that the intention of the new clause, as the hon. Member for Rotherham set out, is to rectify a perceived disparity in the ages that children might be abducted that arises based on whether or not the child is in care. The new clause would do that in respect of ages, but not penalties. There is much in what she says. We all wish to act with determination to prevent child abuse where possible and to punish it when it occurs. However, the arguments are complex, and other issues need to be taken into account.

Young people of 16 or 17 are lawfully able to be married, are generally deemed capable of living independently of their parents and are otherwise able to make decisions affecting their way of life, not least in sexual matters. It would therefore seem odd to create a simple offence of inducing a child who is capable of exercising his or her own free will to move away from his or her parents. A husband would not able to take his wife to live with him without the consent of her parents, which, as I am sure that the hon. Lady recognises, could lead us into all sorts of difficulties.

The section 2 child abduction offence in the 1984 Act is based on taking or detaining a child without the consent of a parent or a person with parental responsibly. The consent of the person taken or detained is not relevant. In cases in which a person is taken or detained without his or her consent, an offence of kidnapping or false imprisonment might have been committed, irrespective of the age of the victim. Changing the definition of a child in section 2 of the 1984 Act would leave an inconsistency in the Act itself, as section 1, which would remain unamended, defines a child as a person

“under the age of sixteen”.

The 1980 Hague convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction, with which the hon. Lady will be familiar, ceases to apply when the child attains the age of 16 years.

Photo of Robert Buckland Robert Buckland Conservative, South Swindon 5:15, 27 March 2014

Does the Act not go further? It says:

“a child under the age of sixteen”.

If it were a child simpliciter, the normal presumption that the age is 18 would apply. Therefore, the Act is specifically worded, no doubt with the marriage provisions in mind. We all share the hon. Lady’s aspirations, but clearly we must get the detail right, so that we can cure the mischief that she identified.

Photo of Jeremy Wright Jeremy Wright The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

My hon. Friend is right; that is the point I am making. We do not doubt the hon. Lady’s motivation, but there are some technical difficulties that we must resolve. We do not want to create additional anomalies by changing the law. I recognise that there are circumstances in which children of 16 or 17 require protection, but as people mature, the law recognises different ages at which rights, responsibilities and protections apply. The age at which someone is considered to be a child and is treated differently depends, as the hon. Lady knows, on a balance of factors, including the need to take into account a person’s preferences and circumstances. That applies, for example, to the offences under sections 9 to 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, some of which we have already discussed.

Children who are in care are vulnerable and in need of particular protection. Making specific provision for them will not create an intolerable inconsistency. Rightly, the law recognises that they need different protection from that of children outside care. I hope that I have explained some of the difficulties of the hon. Lady’s proposal. Although I understand her motivation, I urge her to withdraw the new clause.

Photo of Sarah Champion Sarah Champion Labour, Rotherham

I thank the Minister for his comments and for considering this matter fully. Will he consider the motivation behind the proposal to see whether we can do anything about it? I have met victims who were groomed and abused from the age of 11. It may be suggested that they can give informed consent because they are 16, but unfortunately that is not the case because they are so scarred. I have met victims whose parents drove them to the abuser’s home, and the abuse started when they were young children and continued into their late teens. We need to resolve this issue. Will the Minister commit to considering what I am trying to protect children from?

Jeremy Wright indicated assent.

Photo of Sarah Champion Sarah Champion Labour, Rotherham

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.

Clause, by leave, withdrawn.