Adolescence: The ordinary family’s worst nightmare

As we await the release of the Netflix series Adolescence this evening by award winning writer Jack Thorne, I am interested to see how the series will deal with very real, yet often publicly unheard problems of how our criminal justice system, in particular the police, manage children who are alleged to have committed serious offences.

Research reveals overwhelmingly negative experiences of the care system for victims and perpetrators of youth violence.

In March 2023, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) commissioned research on the lived experiences of those who have committed – or experienced – serious youth violence. The findings were published alongside HMICFRS’s report into the policing of these issues and as cross-disciplinary calls increase for a rethink of how  serious youth violence is tackled. In a follow-up to his previous blog, Paul Egunjobi looks at the findings.

On 8^th March 2023, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published a report examining how well the police tackle serious youth violence. We look at the report and one of the issues it has highlighted: how Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) are used, and how effectively the police work with VRUs and other partner organisations.

Long delays are an all-too familiar part of the criminal justice system. As highlighted in the recent case of BH v Norwich Youth Court, those delays can have a significant impact on young people, particularly when a defendant turns 18 during the long process. An imminent change in the law may improve the situation but there are wider issues to be solved, too. Partner Sandra Paul and paralegal Emma McGrath look at the issues.

Channel 4’s, Consent, appeared to be a show with something to say; a show that would draw attention to the complexity of sexual allegations involving school aged children as well as the emotional trauma for all caught in its wake.

The Online Safety Bill hit the headlines last week, following its third and final reading in the House of Commons on 17 January 2023. Since its early stages the Bill has provoked an ongoing debate between social media safety groups, who call for the law to do more to protect children, and civil liberties campaigners, who argue that the proposed legislation impinges on the freedom of speech. The latest proposed amendment would make senior managers criminally liable for platforms’ persistent failure to protect children online. Magda Zima considers the potentially wide-ranging impact of this amendment on both companies and senior individuals.

This blog follows the virtual launch of the Youth Justice Legal Centre Legal Guide on children facing sexual offences. During this event, Maeve Keenan discussed Kingsley Napley's contribution to the report, including recommendations on how to appropriately handle these complex cases and protect the child's welfare.

It’s the knock on the door that parent fear, or is it just me? Thankfully, the Courts have provided some valuable guidance about this nightmare scenario.

There are many reasons the police may want to speak to your child, but few occasions where the reason might be urgent enough to justify an unannounced visit and an arrest.

In this blog, we discuss what new police data reveals about the use of Outcome 22 three years after its introduction and the startling disparity of its use by different forces.

As a criminal defence solicitor specialising in defending allegations of sexual misconduct and representing children, the perfect storm that has erupted since the launch of Everyone’s Invited has made me privy to some of the saddest and most distraught children I have ever advised.

The head of the Youth Justice Board has rightly criticised the Government’s plans to raise child custodial sentences. At a time when England and Wales falls behind most European countries in protecting children with the lowest age of criminal responsibility (10), it is inexplicable that the Government is taking a further regressive step by seeking to increase the length of time that children must spend in prison.

Children under 18 years old are afforded a number of special protections by virtue of the fact that they are children in the eyes of the law. These protections fall away when an individual turns 18 and they are legally considered an ‘adult’.  For defendants who cross the threshold into adulthood during the criminal process, the impact of reaching this milestone can be profound.

Today JUSTICE has published the latest working party report ‘Tackling Racial Injustice: Children and the Youth Justice System’. I am delighted to have had the opportunity to chair the working party that produced this report. The report makes practical recommendations to reduce BAME disproportionality in the Youth Justice System (YJS) of England and Wales.

David Lammy’s landmark review of racial bias in the Criminal Justice System (‘CJS’), made many key recommendations to help improve trust and fairness in the CJS when it was published in 2017. One of which was to expand the use of the deferred prosecution for adults and young offenders.

The temptation to approach the adjudication of a student complaint as merely an ‘internal process’, is one of the most common errors made by some higher education institutions. The process adopted must be capable of examination by an independent and external eye to ensure that at each stage of the process, the rights of all individuals involved are protected.

Once an allegation is made against a student (or member of academic staff), either by another student, a member of staff or someone outside the university, it is important that that the University takes stock of the issue and acts carefully to ensure fairness to all parties. 

University providers owe a duty of care towards staff members and students; this duty takes on particular significance during a disciplinary process and it is essential that Universities provide appropriate and relevant information and support to all parties involved in allegations of misconduct.

What happens when a complaint is made to a University about the conduct of a student or a member of academic staff?  What should the procedures for the resolution of these complaints look like and how can all parties be reassured that such allegations will be resolved fairly? 

This blog series examines some of the sexual offences encountered by the main characters in the explosive 12-part BBC series, ‘I May Destroy You’. This final instalment focuses on a character called Theo and the events that occurred when she was a youth, during her high school years.

The impact of Coronavirus is significant and far-reaching for all children and young adults. For a youth justice system creaking under strain with serious delays, the lockdown has only compounded the problems and brings a raft of serious consequences. Timely justice is ever more important.