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Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 13:56 GMT

Parents 'must tackle' child crime

Children Parents are being urged to take better control after figures revealed children as young as four were involved in house-breaking and petty assault.

The statistics come in a Freedom of Information request released by Grampian Police.

Last year's figures across Scotland showed children as young as two were caught engaged in criminal activities.

The Scottish Government said the root causes of crimes needed to be tackled, including deprivation.

The latest figures compiled by Grampian Police show that during a single year nearly 10,000 crimes were committed by children under 18.

Perhaps the most striking group were those aged under eight - where 49 offences were committed.

Right and wrong

The children cannot be identified, but they include a four-year-old accused of house-breaking, a five-year-old caught shoplifting and another house-breaker, aged five.

There were 26 cases of vandalism among the under-eights.

Police have called on parents to take more responsibility for their children.

The Scottish Government has said it was determined to stop young people getting involved in crime.

It has called on parents to acknowledge their responsibilities to teach young people right from wrong.



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Related to this story:
Child crime statistics revealed (14 Nov 07 |  South of Scotland )
Too young to be a criminal? (20 Oct 07 |  UK )
Adult courts 'unfit for children' (03 Sep 07 |  UK )
Thousands of crimes by under-10s (02 Sep 07 |  UK )

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