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A burglar at the age of ten
10:15am Wednesday 7th May 2008
Comments (26)A TEN-YEAR-old burglar and a 13-year-old sex offender are among almost 1,500 York children who have been caught committing crimes in the city in the last year.
Shocking new figures, obtained exclusively by The Press under the Freedom of information Act, show that 1,470 offences were committed by children aged ten to 17 in just 12 months.
Among them were a ten-year-old from the Westfield area who received a final warning by police for breaking into a house in August last year, a 12-year-old who was charged with mugging someone in the Skelton area in February, and the city's youngest car thief - aged only 13 - who stole a vehicle from Hull Road in June.
Police say they are now looking at new ways to stop youngsters from being "sucked into a life of crime" at an early age.
The figures detail all the crimes police found to have been committed by juveniles between April 1, 2007, and March 31, 2008.
They show ten-year-olds were responsible for eight crimes, including assault, criminal damage, theft and violence, as well as burglary.
Twenty-five offences were committed by 11-year-olds, and a further 51 were carried out by children aged 12, while a shocking 117 crimes were carried out by 13-year-olds, including four house burglaries, six non-domestic burglaries and 49 thefts.
Fourteen-year-olds committed 184 offences, fifteen-year-olds carried out 275 and 16-year-olds were responsible for 391.
Inspector Dave Kirby said most young offenders tend to fall into two categories - those who only get into trouble once and then never again, and those who progress into more serious crimes.
He said: "There are those who start off with criminal damage and antisocial behaviour, then move on to shoplifting and theft of pedal cycles and then start breaking into cars. In the general rule, there is a progression - but there are always exceptions to the rule.
"There will be a small minority of repeat offenders in that age group who are responsible for a good proportion of the crime."
Chief Insp Dave Hall of York Police said there "certainly isn't an epidemic" of juvenile crime in the city.
"We have juvenile crime, but no more than in any comparable area, probably less, but we are doing a lot of innovative work with our safer neighbourhood teams to identify those young people coming on to our radar who might get into a life of crime if we don't nip it in the bud," he said.
He gave the example of a teenage girl who had been in trouble with the police until they found out she liked horses, and arranged for her to work at a local stables.
"It has taken her away from a life of crime and given her a sense of purpose," he said.
"We need to get away from enforcement all the time and prevent that escalation into the criminal frame of mind."
Your Say YourYork Press
Allsorts, York says...
10:43am Wed 7 May 08
bored wrote:Maybe others think the same way so it could be even worse than we think! Scary thought!
mugged by a 12 year old... I dont know if id report that one!
bored, home says...
10:52am Wed 7 May 08
Allsorts wrote:yeah, its the last time I walk the streets of Skelton with valuables in my pocket. I'd best leave the marbles, sweets and stickers at home!
bored wrote: mugged by a 12 year old... I dont know if id report that one!Maybe others think the same way so it could be even worse than we think! Scary thought!
Redr, york says...
11:27am Wed 7 May 08
JS, York says...
11:29am Wed 7 May 08
tonesview, york says...
11:36am Wed 7 May 08
JS, York says...
11:51am Wed 7 May 08
tonesview wrote:Top man.. true. But unfortunately that was before the do gooders thought you could reason with something that doesn't have a brain.
Didn't Borstals used to be a good deterent for these young scrotes?
Bemused, York says...
11:59am Wed 7 May 08
quPosted by: tonesview, york on 11:36am today
Didn't Borstals used to be a good deterent for these young scrotes?
Yes they did, and the Attendance Centres, both worked perfectly, until the liberal elite got them abolished. they'd work today, but first dump the Human Rights Act which only we in Europe take any notice of.
Jason, says...
12:33pm Wed 7 May 08
ghost of oscar deutsch, says...
12:35pm Wed 7 May 08
ghost of oscar deutsch, says...
12:41pm Wed 7 May 08
MISS HAVE HER SAY, York says...
1:09pm Wed 7 May 08
the invisible man, southbank says...
1:15pm Wed 7 May 08
BL, says...
1:15pm Wed 7 May 08
Bemused, York says...
1:33pm Wed 7 May 08
but the introduction of fines for parents over school truancy didn't make a difference in the number of children playing truant
No doubt because the law wasn't enforced, bet a bit of zero tolerance with truancy would teach parents their responsibilities.
tonesview, york says...
2:00pm Wed 7 May 08
MISS HAVE HER SAY wrote:Invisible man-Havent seen that film , but did they used to take their bad kids up the mountain,and beat the cr@p out of them,or is that the chinese.
The thing is that they know they can get away with it so they will just carry on! Its about time the country got more tough on young criminals to try and stop them progressing through a criminal life and causing more harm and upset. Can they see that a telling off just doesn't work, GET TOUGHER!!!!
bobby, york says...
2:23pm Wed 7 May 08
bobby, york says...
2:23pm Wed 7 May 08
bobby, york says...
2:24pm Wed 7 May 08
tonesview, york says...
2:36pm Wed 7 May 08
andy2007, york says...
3:08pm Wed 7 May 08
Peachy4, york says...
3:31pm Wed 7 May 08
andy2007 wrote:Well said its about time more people had this idea instead of the do-gooders who give them a pat on the head and say don't do it again,and also if these scrotes are old enough to do the crimes why are they never named and shamed instead of protecting there identity because they are under a certain age,who protects the victims??
Easy solved. get hold of the kid and bray it. then bray it again when it fails to conform. I'm sorry but i dont support any do-gooder approach to out of control kids. They do wrong and they are punished - simple! no guardian reading tweed jacket tuna eating social workers bleating on about how poor johnny is a victim of society.
JS, York says...
3:50pm Wed 7 May 08
Peachy4 wrote:My new best friends.!
andy2007 wrote: Easy solved. get hold of the kid and bray it. then bray it again when it fails to conform. I'm sorry but i dont support any do-gooder approach to out of control kids. They do wrong and they are punished - simple! no guardian reading tweed jacket tuna eating social workers bleating on about how poor johnny is a victim of society.Well said its about time more people had this idea instead of the do-gooders who give them a pat on the head and say don't do it again,and also if these scrotes are old enough to do the crimes why are they never named and shamed instead of protecting there identity because they are under a certain age,who protects the victims??
Bemused, York says...
6:24pm Wed 7 May 08
My new best friends.!
Mine as well.
rawcliffe terrier, york says...
11:45pm Wed 7 May 08
jakew357, Easingwold says...
3:41pm Fri 9 May 08
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bored, home says...
10:19am Wed 7 May 08