CITY PLAGUED BY SERIOUS YOUTH VIOLENCE
SHOCKING NEW FIGURES IN A COUNCIL REPORT REVEALS 25PC RISE IN INCIDENTS
SERIOUS youth violence in Coventry has risen 25 per cent in the past year.
New figures have been highlighted in a report discussing the Coventry Youth Offending Service (CYOS), which is designed to reduce youth offending.
A report to Coventry City Council’s cabinet on Tuesday, October 29, said the rise presents a “significant challenge for local partnerships”.
Cases heard by the Crown Court have increased, while the number of youths kept in overnight custody jumped to 1,015 in 2018/19 - up from 453.
The most common offences included violence against the person (22 per cent), motoring offences (17 per cent), drugs (10 per cent) and theft and handling (10 per cent).
Cabinet member for children and young people Cllr Pat Seaman said: “More young people are being remanded into custody and going on to see lengthier custodial sentences.
“While this might provide a temporary respite from their behaviours, it statistically increase the likelihood of them re-offending.
“A number of those young people have not been previously known to us and are going to prison as a first-time entrant to the criminal justice system, something which was historically very rare.”
But, demonstrating “a tale of two cities”, the CYOS has delivered “a number of good outcomes” to help youngsters this year, councillors were told.
The number of first-time entrants to the service dropped from 311 to 235 in 2018/19, while 60.4 per cent of young people did not go on to re-offend which “compared well” to national figures.
Last year also saw a record low number of people entering custody with a total of 11, Cllr Seaman said.
Figures for the CYOS are “good news”, she added, but she admitted there are “a significant number of challenges” in the city, highlighting ‘austerity’ and funding cuts which she said has resulted in staff levels reducing twice in the last five years.
Where the service had over 100 full time staff 10 years ago, that number had now dropped to 32.
Cllr Seaman added: “There is evidence that austerity has a causal link to increased violence and that rising inequality also increases violence.”
Multiple County Lines, Organised Crime Groups (OCGS) and two prominent Urban Street Gangs (USG) operate in the city, the report said.
Cllr Seaman said exploitation of young people by street gangs has a “brutalising effect”, and can often lead to violent crime. Figures from the Coventry Community Safety Partnership Strategic Assessment 2019 show a 30.3 per cent increase in knife crime in 2018/19. Robbery increased by 46 per cent, it adds, but robbery convictions for young people has declined.
There is evidence that austerity has a causal link to increased violence and that rising inequality also increases violence