UK riots cause 8% rise in jailed children

Youth Justice Board said that half of children under 18 face charges of rioting had no previous contact with the criminal justice system

The arrival of children prisoners accused of involvement in last month's looting and riots have contributed to an 8% increase in juvenile prison population in England and Wales.

This calculation is based on Youth Justice Board (YJB) The figures show 170 offenders under 18 riots are now in custody, adding to the 2,075 children enrolled prisoners in June, the latest statistics available. A Department of Justice on Thursday the report suggests a lower figure, it is said that 125 young people are behind bars on charges of rioting, with 21 sentenced and remanded 104

The Guardian has learned that two fifths of children in detention have no previous relationship with the youth teams -. Marker of criminal behavior that led to a court order

The YJB, which is responsible for the administration of juvenile justice in England and Wales, said that half of children under 18 brought to court on charges of rioting months and looting last were completely unknown to the criminal justice system and only 10-15% of young demonstrators had any gang affiliation.

Statistics on children, representing 20% ??of all convicted disorders, undermining the claims of justice minister, Kenneth Clarke that the riots were caused by a criminal sub-class drives.

activists have warned that the sudden increase in the number of children in prison was a possible violation of the commitment of the United Kingdom to protect the rights of children. Section 37 of the UN Convention that detention should only be used "as a last resort."

Andrew Neilson, assistant director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "We are very concerned that there was a race to the care of vulnerable young people in general and are recognized as different and to be reflected ... . and that did not happen. It was a one-size-fits-all approach.

"pushing someone in contact with an institute of juvenile delinquency, which is the deepest part is a very risky [and] ... it is a disproportionate impact perturbations of the phrase "

"The overuse of pretrial detention and called some of the statements certainly the government claims that the issue of custody is used as a last resort."

John Drew, general manager of the YJB, said there was a crisis in young offender institutions (YOIs) due to the sudden rise of the prison population. Criminals, including London, had to share or cells were transferred to prisons hundreds of miles from home.

said that one of the major concerns of the YJB has been the threat of violence against participants naive to the prison system. Therefore, all these sentences in the disturbances were classified as vulnerable, a gesture usually reserved for a small minority.

• "We won all of a sudden about 80 young people who have not been anywhere near the criminal justice system before," said Drew. "They are in custody and there are all kinds of codes and ways to get through a sentence that is foreign to them. Thus, institutions have tried everything to be vulnerable and have responded to try to help them understand what is expected of them prison guards, and what may or may not be acceptable in terms of how the other inmates is expected them. But, inevitably, is a mixture of new ... It's a real challenge for our team. "

Drew said he knew "some cases" of violence involving new entrants. An incident at Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute left two children in the hospital.

A report sent to The Guardian by the Howard League for Penal Reform, suggested that turf wars have broken out in a Yoi.

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