Most young people will never commit a crime or be involved with the police, but it does happen. If you have or are suspected of having committed a crime, a number of things can happen. On this page, you can find out what options there are, what rights you have and how committing a crime can possibly impact on your future life.
The police make a decision not to charge the offender. This can be because of lack of evidence or it is not in the public interest to take it further.
This is usually used for low-level crimes where the offender admits their guilt. Often the victim will agree that they do not wish to take the incident any further, but they can ask to be involved to explain how it affected them. It will not result in a criminal record, but the Youth Offending Service can carry out an assessment and then draw up a plan to help improve the offender’s behaviour.
If you commit a crime and are over 10 years old, the police can give you a caution, which is like being given a warning. The police are telling you that you have broken the law, but it is not serious enough to be arrested or to go to court. You will usually be cautioned if it is your first offence and you have admitted doing it.
To be given a caution, the police officer must have evidence that you have committed a crime, which has enough evidence that would lead you to being convicted if it went to court. You can only get a caution if you admit to doing it and have not committed any other crime in the past. If you do not admit to it, you can be arrested and charged.
A caution isn’t a criminal conviction, so once it is complete, it is considered finished with , but if you commit further crimes where you end up in court, it can be used as evidence to show that you are repeatedly offending.
10-17 year olds can be given a caution if they admit the offence. A youth caution remains on a your criminal record. It is considered spent (which means you would not have to disclose it for most jobs), but it will appear on an enhanced criminal record check.
Will a caution stop me being able to do things?
If you complete an application, and it asks you if you have committed any crime, you do not have to include this as it is considered spent, but if you are applying for a job and there is a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS), the caution will show and your future employer will be able to consider whether you are the right person for the job.
10-17 years olds can be given a youth conditional caution if they admit a criminal offence. Youth conditional cautions are a caution with one or more conditions attached. You have to commit to things the police ask you to do, like getting help for alcohol or drug addiction. If a child does not keep to the conditions they could be prosecuted for the original offence.
Like a caution, It is considered ‘spent’, but it will appear on an enhanced criminal record check.
Will a caution stop me being able to do things?
If you complete an application, and it asks you if you have committed any crime, you do not have to include this as it is considered spent, but if you are applying for a job and there is a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS), the caution will show and your future employer will be able to consider whether you are the right person for the job.
For serious offences, the police and Youth Offending Service may decide that the young person should be charged to appear in court. You are often likely be able to go home until the hearing, but sometimes an offence is so serious that a young person will be kept in custody until the court hearing. You will be given a date to attend court where you and parents or carers are expected to attend court with the young person. If the young person is in care a social worker is expected to attend as well. The Youth Offending Service will advise the court on the best sentence based on their knowledge of the young person. Click on the ‘Court’ tab to find out more.
Custody
If you are involved in a crime, if it is deemed serious enough, you can be taken to custody, it can be a scary experience. This video explains what you can expect.
Going to Court
This video explains what you can expect when going to court.
The court
Youandco.org have created an interactive court so you can see how a court may look when you attend. Click on the image to visit their site.
You can find out a lot more information from the website ‘You and Co’ which provides support for young people going to court, either as offenders, victims or witnesses. Click on the image to go to the court pages on their website.
A court has a number of choices if you are found guilty of committing an offence. Firstly you may receive a custodial sentence.can decide that you receive a custodial sentence. You could be sent to one of the following places:
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Secure children’s homes:
For young offenders aged 10 to 14.
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Secure Training Centres:
For offenders up to 17 years. They provide education and training and address reasons for your behaviour.
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Young Offender Institutions: (YOIs):
For offenders aged 15 to 21 and are run by the Prison service. Like the secure children’s home they provide education and training and address reasons for your behaviour.
Community Sentence
The court may decide that you do not require being sent to a secure location if you are found guilty. They may request the following:
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Fine
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Reparation Order:
This is to get you to understand the consequences of your crime. It may include getting the victim and offender together, or doing community work;
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Referral Orders:
If this is your first offence and you admit guilt, you can be referred to a Youth Offender Panel which decides on the best option lasting from 3 to 12 months. Once completed, the offence won’t have to be disclosed when applying for work;
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Youth Rehabilitation Orders:
This tells you what can and can’t do for up to three years. It will be in response to the crime you committed and may include things like staying away from a place, a curfew, random drugs testing or a drug addiction treatment. If you fail to comply with these orders, you may go to custody.
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Absolute Discharge:
If you admit you’re guilty or are found guilty of an offence, no further action will be taken and you’ll be given an absolute discharge;
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Conditional Discharge:
No immediate punishment is given. Instead, a period up to three years is set, and as long as you don’t commit any more offences, there will be no punishment. If you do offend in that time, you can be brought back to court and re-sentenced.
Prison
Young offender institutions are for 15 to 21-year-olds and being sent to one is a challenging experience.
The Mix website contains lots of information about crime and the law. Click on the image to find out all about Young offender institutions and what you can expect.
Elearning
TBU
Podcasts
TBU
Video
Websites
Children as young as six are being forced to carry and sell drugs far away from their homes. They are made to skip school, sleep in drug dens, keep secrets from their loved ones. They are treated as criminals when they often feel trapped in a hopeless situation.
Fearless is a site where you can access non-judgemental information and advice about crime and criminality. What makes this site different is we also provide you with a safe place to give information to us about crime – 100% anonymously. Also includes classroom resources
Fully Human is the research and development arm of the PSHE Association. It’s our place to think, stretch out and join the dots between this fast changing world and what might best support children and young people to navigate it.
Whether you’ve been a victim of a crime, worried about your safety or need to understand your rights The Mix offers non-judgemental legal information and support for young people that’s clear and easy to understand.
UK arrest rights lay out exactly how you should be treated if you’ve been taken into custody by the police. Read on to learn more about your rights when arrested.
What happens if you’re stopped and searched by the police? What are your rights, and what powers to stop people do the police actually have? Can you refuse a stop and search? Here’s all you need to know to keep you safe.
Documents
Author: HM Inspectorate of Prisons
Published: 13-11-2024
More children in custody felt unsafe than last year, and fewer said they were getting any education, according to an annual review by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. The review, which analysed survey findings from children living in young offender institutions (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs) in England and Wales in 2023-24, found that children spent the majority of their time locked in their cells, with little done to address their offending. When they were able to mix with other children on the wings, this was often marred by conflict and violence.
Author: Institute of Fiscal Studies
Published: 12-11-2024
Youth clubs are community-based after-school programmes, typically offered free of charge to teenagers in underprivileged neighbourhoods. I provide the first causal estimates of their effects on education and crime, leveraging quasi-experimental variation from austerity-related cuts, which led to the closure of 30% of youth clubs in London between 2010 and 2019.
Author: Sentencing Academy
Published: 31-10-2024
This report describes the findings from a survey of 1,038 children living in England and Wales aged between 10-17 years, drawn from the general public and conducted in 2023. The research contributes to the literature on the public’s knowledge and opinion of sentencing and this survey follows up an earlier report by the Sentencing Academy, published in January 2022, which explored public knowledge of sentencing practice and trends through a survey of adult respondents.
Author: Revolving Doors
Published: 24-10-2024
Revolving Doors were commissioned by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) to produce a review of good and promising local practice that is tackling ethnic disparity and over-representation in youth justice across England and Wales.
Author: National Police Chief’s Council
Published: 18-10-2024
The National Police Chief’s Council have released their proposals for a child centred policing strategy. The report recognises the importance of diverting children and young people from the criminal justice system (CJS) and proposes a strategy to ensure children are seen as children before anything else in encounters with the police.
Author: Centre for Justice Innovation
Published: 18-04-2024
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are hugely over-represented at all points in the criminal justice system. Evidence suggests that 70–90% of children in the justice system have some form of SEND.
Author: Alliance for Youth Justice/Leaders Unlocked
Published: 12-04-2024
The project is led by children and young people who have lived experience of the youth justice system, and who want to be part of a movement to drive positive change around issues that are important to them. The project supports the Young Advocates to play a leadership role and represent children and young people across the country.
Author: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Published: 03-04-2024
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on custodial institutions has been the subject of intense scrutiny. During the pandemic, many international jurisdictions failed to develop clear and child-focussed plans for the management of children in custody, instead relying on strategies developed for adult populations.
Author: Action for Children
Published: 27-03-2024
The facts of criminal exploitation paint a stark picture: tens of thousands of children and young people across the country are controlled and manipulated by criminal gangs, while countless more are at risk. The toll on these young lives is immeasurable, leading to serious physical harm, long-term trauma and criminalisation. Children are paying with their freedom, their childhoods and their lives.
Classroom Resources
These lessons help students explore how young people might be recruited into a gang, and consider the choices, risks, and potential consequences for this type of scenario, and ways to get support with gang-related issues.
Category: Crime and ASB
Audience: KS3, KS4
Developed by: Medway/PSHE Association
Duration (minutes): 3×45
Keywords:
The lessons have been developed for Medway schools in partnership with Medway Public Health Directorate, as an update to the original 2018 pack.
A free lesson pack to help upper KS2 pupils make safe cyber choices and prevent them from unknowingly committing cybercrime, as defined under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
Category: Crime and ASB, Online Safety
Audience: KS2
Developed by: NCA/PSHE Association
Duration (minutes): 2 x 30
Keywords:
Making the right #CyberChoices features a series of fictional characters and real-life, age-appropriate scenarios to encourage pupils to think about why young people commit cybercrime, and the potential consequences — for themselves and others. There are also opportunities for pupils to consider how the same skills being used to commit cybercrime could be used in a more positive way.
The lesson plans from the Home Office are designed to prevent young people becoming involved in serious and organised crime.
Category: Crime and ASB, Drugs
Audience: KS3
Developed by: Home Office
Duration (minutes): 2×60
Keywords:
The Year 7 lesson will help students recognise unsafe or coercive friendships. The Year 9 lesson explores the impact of serious and organised crime directly, including the example of young people involved in drugs supply with a focus on county lines (transporting drugs across counties).
News
03/12/2024: What Do Children Know And Think About Sentencing?
The Sentencing Academy explores children’s knowledge and opinions about sentencing.
02/12/2024: Consultation opens on National Occupational Standards for youth justice
A consultation on the national occupational standards (NOS) impacting the youth justice sector is underway.
13/11/2024: Children In Custody Being Failed
Inspectorate says that children in custody are being failed by having to live in establishments dominated by violence, disorder and lack of education.
11/11/2024: Mission to tackle teenagers’ ‘trauma’ with police
Young people are being urged to take part in a project designed to “empower” their interactions with police.
08/11/2024: YJB trustee to lead review of girls in custody
Susannah Hancock is to undertake an independent review into the placement of girls in the children and young people’s secure estate.
08/11/2024: Making Better Use Of Non-Custodial Sentences
Dr Stephanie Wallace guest posts on making better use of non-custodial sentences using the Sentence Severity Scale.
31/10/2024: Addressing Racial Disparity in the Youth Justice System: a report into the success of local practices
This report, commissioned by the Youth Justice Board (YJB), was published on 24 October 2024. The report, authored by the charity Revolving Doors, uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to appraise local programmes in England and Wales that carry out interventions with the aim of preventing children and young people from re-offending.
24/10/2024: Sure Start programme cut youth offending by a fifth, report finds
Support for children under the age of five through the Sure Start programme “significantly reduced” the chances of offending when they reached adolescence, a report has found.
24/10/2024: Youth offending not included in government sentencing review
The youth offending framework will not be included in a sentencing review launched by the government.
22/10/2024: A ‘Child First’ approach, diverting children away from court, modifications and sentencing
Shauneen Lambe and Katya Moran set out what criminal practitioners need to know when acting for children and young people.
Useful Links
