Significant drop in number of young people entering justice system in South Yorkshire

Law reform and human rights charity Justice welcomed the fall, but said more must be done to tackle inequality in the youth justice system so all children are treated with care and dignity.

Ministry of Justice data shows 215 under 18 year olds handled by South Yorkshire Police entered the criminal justice system for the first time in the year to September – a 71 per cent decline from 736 a decade prior.

Of the juveniles entering the system last year, 101 were convicted of a crime (47 per cent) and the rest were cautioned or reprimanded.

And where gender was recorded, 175 juveniles were male (81 per cent) and 35 were female (​16 per cent).

Across England and Wales, over 8,300 young people entered the criminal justice system for the first time last year. It was down slightly from 8,800 the year before and a fall of 74 per cent from 32,000 in 2011-12.

About 48 per cent of young first-time entrants to the justice system were convicted of a crime.

Tyrone Steele, criminal lawyer at Justice, said the declining number of children entering the system is welcome.

Mr Steele added: "This has not benefitted all communities equally. Ethnic minority children remain vastly overrepresented, still making up over half of those in the youth custody."

He said it is clear more must be done to tackle racial injustice in the youth criminal justice system.

"This means rolling back on expanded stop and search powers and focusing instead on tried and tested diversion programmes, which serve to ensure that all children are treated with the care and dignity that they deserve, providing vital support rather than damaging criminalisation,” he added.

The figures show 24 children in South Yorkshire who entered the criminal justice system for the first time were from an ethnic minority background – 11 per cent of juvenile offenders.

A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson said forces across the two nations work hard to avoid unnecessarily criminalising children and young people.

“Our child-centred approach means police will consider a range of options to avoid criminalising young people for their first minor offences," they added.