Teenagers’ soft justice

In Leicester in August, a 16-year-old walked free after assaulting five people, obstructing a police officer and racially abusing another. Magistrates handed him a 12-month youth rehabilitation order and 40 hours of unpaid work after his lawyer said he had been drinking and was ‘ashamed of his behaviour’.

A 14-year-old in Sunderland avoided prison in April after raping a girl in a field. Prosecutors said the victim had been left suicidal, but the judge was told that sentencing guidelines say ‘the courts’ priority should be the welfare of the defendant’. The boy was given a 12-month supervision order, a curfew and community work. ‘I am legally obliged to focus on your welfare and need for training,’ the judge said.

In February, four teenagers who left a 77-year-old woman with a fractured skull after throwing rocks at taxis in Birmingham escaped prison. The boys, aged between 15 and 17, were each given a one-year youth rehabilitation order and a curfew. A district judge told the gang that if they were adults they would have been jailed ‘for a lengthy period’, adding that it was ‘incredibly fortunate’ nobody had been killed by their ‘reckless’ actions.