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Is youth crime really on the increase?

Last Modified: 23 Aug 2007
By: Andy Davies

The issue of youth crime is now firmly back on the agenda, but what do we truly understand about gun crime among Britian's youths?

The death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones is another violent shooting of a young person in the wake of what David Cameron calls 'anarchy in parts of the UK'.

The Conservative leader called yesterday for action to confront the growing 'anarchy' and crisis of order on Britain's streets.

Youth offences

Figures compiled by youth offending teams show that total offences recorded for under 18s in 2002/3 amounted to 268,480.

That rose to 301,860 in 2005/06. In 2002, motoring offences made up 23 per cent of the total falling to 15.6 per cent while theft and handling stolen goods remained stable at around 18 per cent.

However, the number of offences involving violence against the person rose from 13 per cent in 2003 survey to 18 per cent last year.

Facts and figures

Gun crime overall has fallen in recent years - but not apparently within younger age groups. In London there's been a particular problem.

The number of victims of murders and shootings under the age of 20 as reported in Operation Trident rose from 31 in 2003 to 79 in 2006 , a figure which may well be superseded this year.

There are more young people involved in firearms offences. In England and Wales the number of people under 21 charged in relation to firearms offences in 2001 was 1,193. In 2005 that had risen to 1,444.

But in the context of overall crime, the magistrates association has seen overall levels of crime have remained stable - and indeed have dropped from the 1990s. but with a recent rise in detected youth offending.

According to Nacro, the crime reduction charity, there has been an increase in the number of girls and younger children coming to the attention of the police or courts.

Anti-social behaviour

As far as anti-social behaviour goes, again difficult to judge, nothing seems to measure it. Public perception remains high while others feel its under-reported and the police shy away from it.

There has been no significant change in involvement in anti-social behaviour either by girls or boys, since the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) was first conducted in 2003.