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 the very real, yet often unheard, problems of how our criminal justice system, in particular the police, manages children who are alleged to have committed extremely serious offences.
I specialise in defending children as a criminal lawyer and regularly witness the parents of my clients struggling to come to terms with the fact that an arrest, investigation or, in extreme cases, prosecution is “happening to them“. It is easy to assume that your child, who is the apple of your eye and who has perhaps benefited from good schooling or a privileged upbringing, would never become involved with the police. Surely that only happens to children who have not been so fortunate? Our experience is that wealth and privilege do not protect your child from coming into conflict with the law. A criminal allegation can be made against anyone at any time, regardless of their circumstances.
In a world where it is impossible to completely control what our children are exposed to online, and where we are all encouraged to speak up for our individual rights, the risk of criminal complaints being made by children against other children in schools, playgrounds, chatrooms, gaming communities and sports teams (the possibilities are endless) is ever present. I frequently watch parents blame themselves for the fact that their child is facing a criminal allegation – “We should have seen the signs“, “should have had more rules“, “should have had better internet security” are common refrains. The truth is that it is rare that I have thought my client would have avoided a police station if their parents had only done something differently. There are simply too many risk factors in the world we live in today to be able to control and prevent them all.
The teasers shared for Adolescence suggest that it will deal with “the ordinary family’s worst nightmare” and how the police appear to disregard the fact that the defendant at the centre of the drama is a 13-year-old child. It is not uncommon for the police to appear to overlook the permanent and detrimental impact that a criminal investigation can have on a child. From the moment a child is arrested, their future, their parents’ livelihoods and even their siblings’ futures may be at stake.
The police should consider whether an arrest is necessary and proportionate in every case. Indeed, if the legislation, case law and guidance were properly applied on every occasion, it would be rare for children to be arrested at all. However, time and again I have to remind the police that the arrest of a child is rarely necessary or fair and can often be avoided by using voluntary interviews or diversion away from the criminal justice system.
There are a number of protective measures available to children in the criminal justice system which I anticipate we will see throughout the series. A non-exhaustive list includes:
- an Appropriate Adult should be present at the police station to help protect the child’s rights and facilitate communication with the police, alongside a solicitor;
- court proceedings involving children are not open to the public;
- children are automatically entitled to anonymity in press reporting;
- the sentences available are significantly lower than those available for adults and rarely involve immediate custody; and
- judges and prosecutors dealing with youth cases must be youth ticketed.
Most importantly, when making decisions involving children, the police and the CPS are required to treat the best interests of the child as a primary consideration.[1] Unfortunately, this does not always happen, particularly where children appear more mature than they are or the alleged offence is especially serious. In those circumstances, parents and their children are forced to view the police through a new lens. An organisation they had previously seen as their protector can instead appear to become the opposite, tearing apart the sanctity of family life with little, if any, regard for the long-term consequences their decisions may have on the child and their family.
Having said that, there are police officers and partner agencies who do a brilliant job supporting children through the criminal justice system, and I have worked with many of them. Sadly, however, that supportive and considered approach is not universal in my experience.
There will, of course, be occasions where it is appropriate for the criminal justice system to prosecute and imprison a child if they genuinely pose a risk to the public that cannot be managed in any other way. However, those occasions are extraordinarily rare. I hope this series helps the wider public understand that, even in such circumstances, there is good reason to ensure a child’s initial contact with the police and the investigation process is as child-friendly as possible.
Imagine if this happened to your family. Every one of us would want and need a youth justice system that recognises and respects that your child is exactly that – a child.
The Guardian’s review, “the closest thing to TV perfection“, can be found here: Guardian Review.
