Young 'bail bandits' targeted

Courts in England and Wales are to be given stronger powers to hold repeat young offenders in custody if they are charged with new offences while on bail.

The initiative, due to be launched by Home Office minister Paul Boateng on Saturday, is part of the government's crackdown on "yob culture".

Research has shown that juveniles are more than twice as likely to offend on bail than adults.

If you remand young people in secure units it contains them but there are real risks of criminal contamination

Paul Cavadino
Nacro

The new powers are to be introduced as amendments to the Criminal Justice and Police Bill currently going through Parliament.

The new powers will also enable young offenders on bail to be electronically tagged.

Home Secretary Jack Straw said: "There have been a number of cases where young 'bail bandits' have repeatedly committed offences when on bail.

Intensive support

"The courts currently lack the power to remand them to custody unless they commit a more serious offence, effectively allowing some persistent young offenders to thumb their noses at the law."

But Paul Cavadino, head of the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (Nacro), warned the new initiative could cause more problems than it solved.

He called for the government to instead expand the use of intensive support of young defendants while on bail.

Mr Cavadino told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If you remand young people in secure units it contains them but there are real risks of criminal contamination.

"What they don't know about crime before they go to the unit, they have learnt from others by the time they come out."

Persistent offenders

Courts currently have the power to remand juvenile defendants aged 12 to 16 in custody only if they are charged with a crime which would attract a sentence of 14 years or more if an adult was convicted of it.

Such crimes would include murder, rape or household burglary.

This means that while serious offenders can be held in secure units, youngsters who persistently commit offences like assault, criminal damage or burglary of a commercial building must be released on bail to await their trial.

Boateng: Crackdown on "bail bandits"

In recent years, there have been many well-publicised cases of youngsters who commit numerous low-level crimes while on bail.

High profile cases included Safari Boy, in Gloucester - so called because he was sent on a "character-building" safari holiday as part of his probation sentence - and Rat Boy, who burgled dozens of homes in Tyneside, and lived rough in a heating duct.

In each case, magistrates were powerless to remand the defendant in custody even if they had seen them return to court again and again for similar offences.

Fighting crime

The new powers will allow them to hold any juvenile charged with an offence which could lead to a custodial sentence in a secure unit if he has a recent history of being charged, cautioned or convicted for offences committed while on bail.

The initiative comes just days before the government is due to announce its 10-year plan to cut crime, making crime fighting one of its top priorities in the next parliament.

Its planned legislation will also give the police wider powers to tackle "yob culture" by closing problem pubs, introducing teen curfews, banning alcohol in public places, and fining offenders on the spot.

In addition, the government plans new measures to tackle car crime, making it easier to seize criminals' assets, regulate the private security industry, and crack down on people who commit benefit fraud.