Crimes by under-10s double in one year

But none of them have been brought before the courts because they are under the age of criminal responsibility.
Figures, released this week under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal offending in the West Berkshire local police area has more than doubled in the past 12 months.
Over the past three years, offences included six instances of criminal damage to homes – one of which involved a child of five – four cases of other criminal damage, two instances of damage to vehicles, one case of harassment, three cases of illegal sexual activity, shoplifting and other thefts, four instances of non-injury assault and three of assault causing actual bodily harm.
During the past year, the figures for West Berkshire have risen from four crimes to nine.
West Berkshire Council’s youth offending team manager, Mrs Davy Pearson, said that none of the above had been brought to her team’s attention because of the ages of the children. However, she added that police had the power to refer children to an early intervention team if they deemed it necessary.
The executive member for children and young people, Irene Neill (Con, Aldermaston), said: “Any figures relating to a number of crimes being committed by under-10s has to be worrying and the figure of 27 relates to nine per year – not a lot, but probably nine too many.”
She is opposed to lowering the age of criminal responsibility, and said: “I certainly wouldn’t want to see it lower but I don’t think raising it would be a great idea either.”
Mrs Pearson agreed it should not be lowered. “It’s very low compared to other European countries,” she said.
“There are better ways of responding than sending young children through the courts.”
Thames Valley Police spokeswoman Hannah Williams said that although the offenders could not be prosecuted, police had a range of methods to deal with young offenders including imposing curfews, issuing warnings and speaking with parents.
The West Berkshire statistics were part of a wider assessment of youth crime in the Thames Valley, which revealed 379 offences were reported over the past three years. The number of reported incidents across the Thames Valley fell from 166 three years ago to 91 last year but in comparison, the local police area of West Berkshire had 14 reported incidents three years ago, before dropping to four in 2011/12 and then rising to nine last year.
The amount of reported offences over three years in the West Berkshire area exceeded those of Bracknell Forest, Oxford, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham.