'Too many' kids being locked up

A children's charity says loads more kids are being locked up for breaking the law than they used to.

Barnardo's says young people aren't behaving any worse, but five times as many 10 to 14-year-olds are being put away than in the early 1990s.

It says only kids who commit really serious crimes should be locked up.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said punishing under 14s by locking them up was a last resort.

Why do kids get locked up?

He added that only three out of every 100 kids convicted of offences are put behind bars.

Kids who have been sentenced to be locked up by a court can be sent to three places.

Young offender institutions are for older children, and are similar to adult jails.

Secure training centres concentrate on educating kids while they are locked up, and younger children are usually sent to secure units.

The Chief Executive of Barnado's, Martin Narey, said there are better ways of dealing with kids who break the law.

He said: "There are a number of things we could do with children like this, and we have to work in particular with families."