900 crimes committed by children

Dec 11 2008 by Graham Fraser, Hamilton Advertiser

AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD boy from Larkhall is amongst hundreds of under 16s charged with committing crimes in the Hamilton area during the past year.

An attempted murder by a youth in the Udston district was also recorded.

Four hundred and forty-six youths in total were involved in 898 offences “detected” by Strathclyde Police.

The shocking findings were discovered after an investigation by the Hamilton Advertiser.

The Larkhall youth was charged with wilful fireraising, while another eight year-old boy from Strathaven was charged with assaulting police officers, resisting arrest, common assault and a breach of the peace.

The youngest girl charged with crimes was only 11.

The offences were committed in the QB division of Strathclyde Police which covers Hamilton, Blantyre, Larkhall, Bothwell, Uddingston and Stonehouse.

The investigation covered the period September 2007 until September this year.

All of the children highlighted in the investigation were charged with the offences and reports of the crimes were sent to the Children’s Reporter.

The figures do not relate to any subsequent action taken by the Children’s Panel or by the courts.

Larkhall Labour MSP Karen Gillon commented: “It is obviously very disappointing that so many young people have been charged with offences.

“The key to tackling this issue is community responsibility.

“We need to get the partnerships right between police, the council, schools and community projects.

“It is also down to the parents. I have three children, and they are my responsibility.

“Every parent needs to take responsibility for their own children.”

The investigation also found offences relating to explosives in Blantyre and Hamilton, incidences of fraud, and five offences relating to driving a vehicle without a licence in Blantyre and Larkhall.

A total of 529 offences committed by under 16s were detected in Hamilton while 191 were in Blantyre.

A further 93 were committed in Larkhall and Ashgill.

And 35 offences were reported in Stonehouse, while Uddingston (28), Bothwell (11), Chatelherault (7) and four crimes in the area surrounding the M74 were also recorded by police.

The Earnock area of Hamilton had 127 detected offences by under 16s, including a serious assault, 40 incidences of vandalism and 31 petty assaults.

Tommy Gilligan, councillor for Hamilton West and Earnock, commented: “The figures are worrying. Nevertheless, they don’t reflect all the good things that are happening in this area.”

The large majority of the 898 detected crimes by Strathclyde Police were of vandalism (212), breach of the peace (174) and petty assault (154).

Chief Inspector Tom Aitken, of Hamilton Police, added: “We work closely with South Lanarkshire Council and community projects to get children away from crime.

“School campus and liaison officers are also in place to help tackle this issue.

“In the Hamilton area, we also work very closely with Universal Connections, Street Base and others to try and divert youths away from crime.”

Last month, Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini - Scotland’s top prosecutor - recommended the age of criminal responsibility should be raised.

Currently, children as young as eight can be prosecuted for committing a crime.

She told the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee that she considers the age of eight “extremely low” and called on politicians to review the law.