Presentazione

da "www.timesonline.co.uk"

From The Sunday Times September 20, 2009

Chris Hastings and Mark Macaskill
 
POLICE have investigated a three-year-old boy for disorder and vandalism, making him the youngest known suspect in a British criminal inquiry.

The toddler is among 10 children aged five and under investigated for crimes, including sexual offences, since May.

Officers from Strathclyde police went to his home this summer after receiving a complaint of damage to household property.

The youngest offender in England and Wales was a six-year-old arrested in Bedfordshire on suspicion of robbery in June.
 
The growing number of real-life enfants terrible is raising concerns among criminologists and social workers. The children are below the age of criminal responsibility and cannot be prosecuted or held in custody.

Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said the figures were worrying. “This is a clear manifestation of the first signs of offending,” he said. “These instances underline the very deep social problems we have in some parts of the country. It is part of the very complex picture we call broken Britain.”

The extent of offending by very young children, disclosed under freedom of information laws, has alarmed crime campaigners already concerned by the thousands of offences committed every year by youngsters.

Figures obtained this month by The Sunday Times revealed that more than 6,000 offences have been committed by children under 10 over the past three years. These include nine-year-olds accused of rape and eight-year-olds believed to have caused grievous bodily harm. Other alleged offences included possession of knives, assaults, theft and burglaries.

The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is eight, the lowest in Europe. In England and Wales it is 10.

Esther Rantzen, the children’s campaigner and broadcaster, called for a new charge of criminal neglect to be brought against the parents of very young children who committed serious offences. “When you hear cases like this it makes you wonder what is going on in family life. You have to ask yourself why.”