Offending is often a phase, says Sentencing Council, as new guidelines aim to avoid criminalising children

The social and ethnic backgrounds of young offenders should be taken into account to “avoid criminalising children unnecessarily”, according to sentencing guidelines for judges and magistrates published on Tuesday.

Among mitigating factors to be considered when punishing those between the ages of 10 and 17 are whether they have had “unstable upbringings”, experienced criminal behaviour within their family or were exposed to pornography.



Filming victims to humiliate them and circulating images on social media will, however, lead to heavier punishments.



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The regulations, circulated by the Sentencing Council, give greater priority to the defendant’s social circumstances, including any social deprivation or abuse. They are aimed at ensuring uniform treatment in youth courts across the country.



“The approach to sentencing should be individualistic and focused on the child or young person, as opposed to offence focused …” the guidelines’ introductory remarks state.



Rehabilitation is the target: “It is important to avoid ‘criminalising’ children and young people unnecessarily; the primary purpose of the youth justice system is to encourage children and young people to take responsibility for their own actions and promote reintegration into society rather than to punish.”

Factors regularly present in the background of young offenders include “deprived homes, poor parental employment records, low educational attainment, early experience of offending by other family members, experience of abuse and/or neglect ...” and the misuse of drugs or alcohol.

Magistrates and judges are advised that they should always have “access to information about how best to identify and respond to these factors and, where necessary, that a proper assessment has taken place in order to enable the most appropriate sentence to be imposed”.

Black and minority ethnic youths are over-represented in the youth justice system, the guidelines acknowledge. A significant proportion of looked-after children and young people are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, the report says, while others may have suffered “discrimination and negative experiences of authority”. Such issues need to be taken into account when sentencing offenders.

Among mitigating factors that should be assessed when sentencing young offenders for sexual offences are “exposure by others to pornography or sexually explicit materials”, domestic abuse and lack of familial support.

A key aggravating factor to be taken into account for any offence, the guidleines say, is the “deliberate humiliation” of a victim through filming an attack “with the intention of causing additional distress or circulating” details and photos on social media and among friends.

A separate new guideline on providing reduced sentences for guilty pleas is also published on Tuesday. It defines more strictly the point at which reductions can be granted.

To qualify for the maximum reduction of one--third off a sentence, a defendant must plead guilty at the first court hearing. Those who admit their guilt later will serve longer sentences. Pleading guilty on the day of the trial will reduce a sentence by a tenth.

Lord Justice Treacy, the chairman of the Sentencing Council, said: “The guidelines we have announced will bring improvements to the way courts deal with offenders who have admitted offences and to how the sentencing of children and young people is undertaken.

“The guilty pleas guideline will help ensure that those defendants who are going to plead guilty do so as early in the court process as possible. This saves victims and witnesses the stress of a trial and means the police, prosecutors and courts can put their resources into those cases that do go to trial.



“Our guideline on the sentencing of children and young people has the prevention of reoffending at its heart. No one wants children who commit offences going on to become adult criminals. The guideline therefore looks with far greater detail at what kind of sentence would prevent this based on the age, background and circumstances of each child or young person, so that it can help them reintegrate instead of becoming alienated further.”



Children under the age of 10 cannot be found guilty of a criminal offence.

The new guidelines come at the same time as David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, is conducting a review for the government into the treatment of those who are black, Asian or of minority ethnic backgrounds by the criminal justice system.

Malcolm Richardson, national chairman of the Magistrates Association, the independent charity representing magistrates in England and Wales, said: “Magistrates are aware of the need for sentencing exercises to take place on a case-by-case basis and in response to the particular circumstances of the person before the court. This includes being aware of factors which disproportionately affect different groups in society. Appropriate guidance which supports sentencers to be aware of these particular factors is therefore welcome.”



