Yvette Cooper: Government to 'go further' in tackling kids involved in serious crime

Yahoo

7 hours ago

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government wants to "go further" in tackling young people getting drawn into "some of the most extreme crimes".
It comes after The Northern Echo revealed that 19 children under ten were linked suspect of a rape and 51 of other sexual offences last year in the region.
Ms Cooper said there were 'real issues' regarding abuse and violence in young relationships when responding to the striking figures at Durham Police's headquarters this week.
The figures, which were obtained by a Freedom of Information request, also found there were more than 400 kids under ten suspected of crimes last year.
Yvette Cooper in Durham this week (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
Durham Police has since branded this as "concerning", while Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen said they were "surprising as they are shocking".
Speaking to The Echo on Monday, Ms Cooper said: 'You're right to say that there are also real issues about abuse in teenage relationships and violence in teenage relationships.
'We're seeing that, whether that's around sexual assaults or other kinds of violence, which I think is really troubling.
'We're strengthening the sex and relationship education in schools, and that's already being updated.
'But we want to go further as part of the violence against women and girls strategy that we will be publishing in the next few months.'
Meanwhile, Chief Constable Rachel Bacon, who described the figures as 'complicated', said the force is continuing to work on deterring young children from crime.
Chief Constable Rachel Bacon (Image: Tom Banks)
She said: 'We would work with the social services, we would work with other partners and with the schools, so we would always be looking at what intervention can be done, what contact can be had, and what difference we can make.'
Prevalence of high-harm offences is 'particularly concerning'
The statistics, published last week, revealed that 40 children under ten were the suspect of a violent crime causing injury last year, the highest in five years.
The data includes all incidents which were reported to the force as a crime - and may not necessarily mean crimes proven to have taken place.
Last year saw a total of 436 children under ten being the suspect of a crime, which is also the highest level in the last five years.
This is more than double the figure in 2020 (148) - however, both this year and 2021 (302) were both impacted by the Covid pandemic.
Durham Police HQ (Image: Stuart Boulton)
Two children as young as two-years-old were also suspected of committing crimes in the region last year, according to the raw police data.
A spokesman for Durham Police said: 'For each of the last three years, we have recorded more than 400 crimes in which the suspected perpetrator was below the age of criminal responsibility.
'That is a concerning figure: which is why we work with partner agencies, such as schools, Youth Offending Teams and Durham Agency Against Crime to divert children away from crime from the earliest possible age.
'There are tools at our disposal, such as curfews or Child Safety Orders, and parents can be held responsible if they do not take reasonable steps to control their child's behaviour.
'While some criminal behaviours have traditionally been associated with younger offenders, such as criminal damage or shoplifting, the prevalence of high harm offences, particularly sexual offences, is particularly concerning.
'Our focus will always be on protecting the vulnerable, preventing crime and reducing the number of victims'.
While possession of weapons statistics were low (four suspects in 2024 and 2023), Ms Cooper highlighted that knife crime remained a key issue to tackle.
She said: 'I know that's something that The Northern Echo has done big campaigns on and on a huge amount of work on.
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'Alongside the youth strategy, we are also to be able to set up prevention partnerships in different areas where the police, local communities, councils and organisations come together to identify the young people who are most at risk in our area.
'We [can then] make sure that we've got strong action being taken and interventions to prevent them getting drawn into crime.
'[It is] also identifying where the real big hotspot areas are and putting additional investment into these areas.'