Call for reforms to youth justice system

Radical reform is needed to the youth justice system to prevent children becoming embroiled in crime, a report claims.

Children' s Comm issi on er, Anne Long field, said that locking youngsters up is not a way to stop crime and warned that an "under-resourced and fragmented system" of child protection is letting down thousands of children before they ever set foot inside a police station.

She has called for a "Scandinavian style joinedup, child-focused system" for youngsters who need to be held in secure units.

This includes urging the Government to put more resources into preventing gangs from exploiting vulnerable children as part of a plan to cut the number of youngsters ending up in prison.

Ms Longfield, pictured, said: "For too long, ruthless criminals have been able to exploit gap sin the education and child pro tection system to exploit and criminalise vulnerable children.

"We should look at why Scandinavian countries have so few children in custody and raise our own expectations to match them.

"That will mean stopping gangs from exploiting vulnerable children, identifying children at risk of getting involved in crime and diverting them away from that path, reducing the numbers of children in custody to an absolute minimum, and transforming secure care for children so that rehabilitation is at its heart.

"I believe all of this is achievable if the willis there to do it."