A report by the charity Transform Justice says poor practice and lack of understanding of child welfare is leading to children being unnecessarily imprisoned on remand.
Although the number of children in custody overall is falling, the report found that the proportion of those in custody on remand is rising.
In the year ending March 2017, 21 per cent of children in custody were on remand, but by June 2018 this had risen to 30 per cent and is the highest monthly figure for 10 years.
In 2017 children were remanded in custody 1,269 times, but following trial or plea, in the majority of cases these young defendants were either found not guilty or given a non-custodial sentence, the report found.
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