This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Britain’s biggest police force is to begin deferring prosecutions for minor offences in an attempt to reduce youth crime and lessen racial bias in the criminal justice system.



The Metropolitan police would start a pilot of the deferred prosecutions scheme as it searched for new ways to stop violence and for longer term solutions, Scotland Yard’s head of countering gang and gun crime told the Guardian.

Deferred prosecutions were one of the key recommendations of a government-backed review of racial inequality in the criminal justice system, which reported last September.

Commander James Stokley said: “Rather than trying to prosecute a young person for a minor offence, rather than criminalising them, is there a way of delaying that prosecution and then offering them diversion, with a mentor, to help them into employment or education, with a view to not having a life of crime.”

He said the majority of young people who got involved in gun and knife crime could be saved by preventative measures.

While details of the scheme have yet to be laid out, in a similar pilot in Durham offences including assault, drug possession, minor assault, fraud and some thefts were considered for deferral.

The Met initiative comes amid growing concern about violent crime, which has led to a sharp rise in London’s homicide rate this year, and debate about how to deal with its causes.

Stokley said police could not arrest their way out of the problem, and a greater emphasis on prevention had produced impressive results so far.

“If you take people out of that environment … I think the majority of people would want to not be part of that life,” he said.

“Some young people could possibly be trapped within that life and if you give them the opportunity and the time to come out of it, then you have saved not only their lives, but potentially people they could have committed violence against.

“If you just chose to arrest and imprison them, that is not going to be the solution to get them out of that life.”

Stokley cautioned that the approach would not work for offenders who appeared to be committed to a violent or criminal way of life.

Durham police, who were the second to trial the scheme after the West Midlands, say it has proved successful in stopping violence and cutting re-offending rates.

Research on the West Midlands scheme found victims were more satisfied with deferred prosecutions.

It was a key recommendation from the review into racial disparities in the criminal justice system, led by the Labour MP David Lammy.

One of the biggest flaws in the criminal justice system is the high rate of re-offending. Official figures for 2016 showed adults released from custodial sentences of less than 12 months had a re-offending rate of 63.8%.

Stokley said a combination of factors contributed to why people offended: “It can be to do with education, housing, health, it could possibly be to do with policing … They might want some sense of belonging … they might want to obtain the perceived trappings of success, of dealing drugs to get a car, nice clothes … There are so many factors, that’s why there is no one solution to it.”

He said the Met’s more traditional criminal work, known as “pursue”, had resulted in record numbers of guns being taken off the streets last year, and that would continue.

Stokley said the Met may adapt Durham’s approach to deferred prosecutions to suit the needs of the capital.

Mike Barton, the chief constable of Durham, denied it was a soft option. “It’s not going soft, it’s going sensible,” he said. “When we ask victims what they want most, they do not want future victims. What we are doing is preventing re-offending better than the current system, which is a revolving door.”

The Lammy review said those convicted of minor offences had their life chances damaged because employers were put off by their criminal record.

The report said: “The deferred prosecution model, which takes plea decisions out of the equation, has produced impressive results and should be rolled out across the country.”



Stokley said that under an exisiting diversion programme, which offers mentoring, re-offending rates had fallen to 7%.

The Met is considering other options to deal with suspects, beyond the courts. Commissioner Cressida Dick has been to Scotland to learn about their approach to knife crime, which is treated as a public health issue.

Chris Sims, who was chief constable of West Midlands when the deferral scheme began, said he and his colleagues realised the courts system offered a poor deal.

“Diverting people from the courts into more appropriate treatment or community action is a better deal for the victims, the offender and society as a whole.”