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Offenders
Sentencing Young Offenders
Find out how the system of reprimands and warnings works and
discuss whether you think it is an effective way to prevent the
young offender committing further crimes.
Sentencing Young Offenders
Since the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 when sentencing a
young offender the court must have regard to:
The principal aim of the youth justice system to prevent offending;
The welfare of the offender; and
The purpose of sentencing.
s.9 of the Act lays down the purposes of sentencing young offenders, these
are:
Punishment;
Custodial sentences
Community sentences
Fines
Discharges
See R v Sec of State for the Home Department, ex parte Venables and Thompson
(1997) and T v UK and V v UK (2000)
Section 91 allows the court to give anything up to the maximum sentence that applies
to adults convicted for that offence. They will serve the sentence in an appropriate form
of custody – see later notes. They are released automatically at the halfway point and
could be released up to a maximum of 135 days early on Home Detention Curfew if
deemed suitable. They are then released on licence or under supervision.
Youth rehabilitation orders
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 created the Youth
Rehabilitation Order, it replaced a range of different orders available
for young offenders, including action plan orders, supervision orders,
drug treatment and testing orders, curfew orders, attendance centre
orders, exclusion orders and community orders.
The system for sentencing young offenders now takes a ‘scaled
approach’ to sentencing and focuses attention particularly on those
offenders most at risk of re-offending or causing serious harm to
themselves or others.
This simplifies the system for sentencing young offenders a little and
focuses on rehabilitation as the method for dealing with these young
offenders.
.
Youth rehabilitation orders
When imposing a youth rehabilitation order a court must choose
from a list of ‘requirements’ that the offender must comply with, they
include:
An activity requirement;
A supervision requirement
An unpaid work requirement;
A programme requirement;
An attendance centre requirement;
A prohibited activity requirement;
An exclusion requirement;
A residence requirement; A local authority residence requirement;
A local authority residence requirement;
A mental health treatment requirement
A drug treatment requirement;
A drug testing requirement;
An intoxicating substance requirement;
An education requirement;
An electronic monitoring requirement;
Intensive supervision and surveillance requirement
Intensive fostering;
A curfew requirement.
Reparation Orders
Available for first time offenders who plead guilty provided that
the offence is not so serious as to require a custodial sentence
or so minor as to warrant only a minor sentence.
The offender signs up to a contract to address their offending
behaviour. This contract is agreed with the Youth Offender
Panel and the offender’s parents and victim if appropriate .
The contract lasts for between 3 and 12 months.
Referral orders differ from custodial sentences in that once the
term of the contract is complete, the conviction is regarded as
‘spent’ so does not need to be disclosed on application forms
for jobs.
Child Safety Order
As with adults, the fine should reflect the offence committed and
the offender’s ability to pay.
For offenders under 16, paying the fine is the responsibility of a
parent/guardian and it will be their ability to pay that is taken into
account when setting the level of the fine.
The maximum fine that can be given to someone under 14 years
old is £250. If the youth is over 13 and under the age of 18 the
maximum fine is £1,000. Who do you think pays these fines?
What issues does this cause?
Discharges
Two types – absolute and conditional
Usually used for first time offenders
Can only use conditional discharges in exceptional
circumstances following the Crime and Disorder Act 1998
Offender will not be punished for the current offence provided
they commit no further offences for a specified period
between 6 months and 3 years
With absolute discharges no punishment will be given despite
the offender either pleading guilty or being found guilty of the
offence.
Youth Offending Teams (YOTs)
Youth Offending Teams work with young offenders
The Youth Justice Board’s website states the following about YOTs:
“There is a YOT in every local authority in England and Wales. They are made up of
representatives from the police, Probation Service, social services, health, education,
drugs and alcohol misuse and housing officers. Each YOT is managed by a YOT
manager who is responsible for co-ordinating the work of the youth justice services.
Because the YOT incorporates representatives from a wide range of services, it can
respond to the needs of young offenders in a comprehensive way. The YOT identifies
the needs of each young offender by assessing them with a national assessment. It
identifies the specific problems that make the young person offend as well as
measuring the risk they pose to others. This enables the YOT to identify suitable
programmes to address the needs of the young person with the intention of
preventing further offending”.