Youth reoffending rate on the rise

Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that around 41,000 juvenile offenders were cautioned, convicted or released from custody in July 2013 to June 2014.

Of these, around 15,000 went on to commit a further offence within 12 months – a proven reoffending rate of 37.8 per cent. This is up 1.2 percentage points from the previous 12 months and an increase of 3.6 percentage points since 2003.

In total, around 49,000 proven reoffences were committed by juveniles over the one-year follow-up period. Those that reoffended committed on average 3.14 reoffences each.

This compares with 2.53 reoffences per offender the previous year and 1.83 in 2003.

In spite of the increase in the overall juvenile reoffending rate, the reoffending rate for juveniles released from custody continues to fall.

Around 1,200 juvenile offenders were released from custody from July 2013 to June 2014, with 67.7 per cent going on to reoffend within 12 months.

This represents a decrease of 0.8 of a percentage point compared with the previous 12 months and a fall of 7.1 percentage points since 2003.

The reoffending rate for juvenile offenders given a youth caution, reprimand or warning was 30.7 per cent, an increase of 3.6 percentage points from the previous year.