Alarm over numbers of black youths in custody

THE PROPORTION of young black people in youth custody is far higher than for other ethnic groups, official analysis shows.

Approximately nine in every 10,000 black youngsters aged between 10 and 17 were in young offender institutions, secure training centres or secure children’s homes in England and Wales in 2015/16.

This compared with one in every 10,000 for those from white ethnic backgrounds, four in 10,000 mixed ethnic young people and two in 10,000 Asian and other young people.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) report found that overall the number of 10 to 17-year-olds in custody has reduced substantially since 2007/08, with falls across all ethnic groups. But volumes for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups have fallen at a slower rate than the white category, and as a result the BAME share of the custodial population has increased over the last decade.

In 2015/16, young people from a black ethnic background accounted for 21 per cent of young people in custody, where ethnicity was known.

The “exploratory” study, which was commissioned as part of a landmark review into race and the criminal justice system led by Labour MP David Lammy, identified a number of factors that may contribute to the high proportion of young black people in custody.

It said: “The analysis in this report indicates that the high proportion of young black people in custody is likely to be driven by arrest rates, custodial sentencing at the magistrates’ court, and the fact that they have spent longer in the custodial estate on average than other groups in the past four years.”

The paper said disproportionate treatment for young black males was most evident at the arrest stage.

The figures indicated that they are almost three times more likely than young white males to be arrested. The authors also found black youths were more likely to be locked up by courts and to be identified with gang culture.