Youth crime prevention

I have often sat in a consultation room with a client under the age of 18 and wondered: how did you get here? Looking at the scared young person sitting in front of me, that question is never far from my mind.

Sometimes the allegation is relatively minor, such as stealing a pair of trainers from a shop. Other times it involves serious offences involving knives. When you eventually gain a child's trust, and they begin to speak, you hear phrases such as, "I only took it out with me for protection." That young person who carried a knife for protection may now be facing a potential murder charge.

It is rare that there is no underlying reason for a child becoming involved in the criminal justice system. It may be the absence of a parent, physical or sexual abuse, being taken into care, neurodivergence, or an undiagnosed or inadequately treated mental health condition. As a society, we need to move away from the narrative that they are "just a naughty kid".

In many cases, there have already been numerous professionals involved in that child's life: teachers, social workers, CAMHS practitioners, and youth justice workers. The problem I often encounter is that these professionals are not effectively communicating with one another. Even more concerning is what happens when these children turn 18. For those struggling with mental health difficulties in particular, there is often no clear plan or continuity of support.

It is hoped that initiatives such as the one proposed will help identify vulnerable children at an earlier stage, preventing them from being exploited by older peers and becoming trapped in a cycle of offending.

Across Youth Courts in England and Wales, solicitors, magistrates and district judges work tirelessly within a challenging system. At the same time, we are living in an age of a growing prison population. Turn on the news, and you are likely to hear discussion of prison overcrowding and early release schemes. It raises an important question: if interventions like these had existed 10 or 15 years ago, how many of those currently in prison might have been diverted away from crime while they were still young and given the opportunity to follow a different path?