Violent youth crime up 40% in three years » Central Government » 24dash.com

Violent crime by young people has rocketed by nearly 40% in just three years, new figures showed today.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) said violence against the person by under-18s leapt by 39%, from just over 40,000 offences in 2003/04 to more than 56,000 in 2006/07.

The figure included a 50% rise in violence by girls, and offences ranged from common assaults to murder.

Robberies committed by under 18s also saw a large rise - up 45%, from 4,740 to 6,855 a year.

Other crimes which saw significant increases were criminal damage (up 32%) and public order (up 17%).

At the same time, there has been no change in the number of child criminals sent to prison, with numbers running at about 7,000 a year.

The biggest change in the way young criminals were dealt with was a sharp rise in the number handed community sentences - up 26% over three years to 39,700.

Nearly 100,000 child offenders were dealt with by "pre-court disposals" - a slap-on-the-wrist by police.

The category rose by 23% to 96,000 from less than 79,000 three years ago.

In figures previously leaked last week, the report also showed the number of crimes committed by girls has risen by a quarter in three years - possibly linked with alcohol.

Girls committed 59,236 crimes in 2006/07, up 25% from 47,358 in 2003/04.

Elaine Arnull, who compiled a report on girls and crime for the YJB, said there were indications that the increase might be linked to growing levels of underage drinking.

And she said offences which would not have resulted in action before were now being taken more seriously.

"It looks like there might be a link between the increase in offences and the use of alcohol," she said.

"Offences that were not necessarily being prosecuted before are being prosecuted now."

She said the rise might also be as a result of an increase in the number of girls in the age group.

The figures on female offences compared with a 2% drop in crimes committed by boys over the same period, although young men still carry out the majority of crimes.

The statistics showed an 85% increase in the use of electronic tagging to monitor young criminals. The number of young women wearing tags more than doubled.

About 40% of youngsters who committed one crime went on to commit another, the report found.

The YJB is a quango set up to oversee how young criminals are punished in England and Wales.