Too many children, some as young as 12, are being incarcerated every year despite the government saying custodial sentences should be a last resort, according to a report on Thursday. Charity Barnardo's said a study of cases from 2007/8 had found that a third of children aged 12 to 14 who were locked up should not have been, under the government's own criteria.
That suggested that 170 children in England and Wales should not have been jailed that year. "Barnardo's is realistic about the reality that some children, even those as young as 12, need to be locked up," said Martin Narey, the charity's chief executive. "But the clear intention of government and of parliament is that custody for teenagers as young as this should, genuinely, be used only as a last resort."
Until 1998, children under 14 could only be put in custody if they had committed a grave offence. Now persistent offenders who have committed a serious offence can also be locked up. Every year more than 400 children aged 12 to 14 are now incarcerated, the report said. More than 20 percent had been put behind bars for breaching a community order such as an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO). The Ministry of Justice said children should only be locked up as a last resort but that judges had to have the final say over sentencing.
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