Child arrests fall but violence in custody rises

Annual youth justice statistics collated by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) show that in the year ending March 2016, there were 88,600 arrests of young people aged between 10 and 17 compared with 94,855 in 2014/15 - a drop of 6.6 per cent.

The number of first-time entrants to the youth justice system is also down, with a total of 18,263 cautioned or convicted for the first time in 2015/16, compared with 20,705 the previous year - a fall of 11.8 per cent on the 2014/15 figure of 20,705. It is the ninth consecutive year the figure has fallen - in 2007 the number of first-time entrants stood at 110,801.

However, despite the falls in arrests and first-time entrants, the annual statistics indicate that youth custody is becoming a more dangerous place.

The number of self-harm incidents has risen from 1,315 in 2014/15 to 1,390 in 2015/16, a rise of 5.7 per cent.

In light of the fact that the number of young people held in custody has been dropping in recent years, the rate of self-harm incidents has reached a new high of 8.9 per 100 young people held in custody each month. This is more than double the rate of 4.1 recorded in 2011.

The number of assaults in custody also rose by six per cent, from 2,736 incidents in 2014/15 to 2,900 in 2015/16.

The number of restraints fell from 4,837 restraints - the equivalent of 28.2 each month per 100 young people in custody - in 2014/15, to 4,300 - the equivalent of 27.8 each month per 100 young people in custody.