Ian McPherson, assistant commissioner at the Met Police and the Association of Chief Police Officer's lead on children and young people, said he does not believe there are "absolutes" in the debate around when young people should be liable for prosecution.
"To say that at the age of 10 you suddenly become responsible as an individual seems to me a bit foolish," he said speaking at the Addressing Youth Crime and Antisocial Behaviour conference in London today (Thursday).
At 10, the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is among the lowest in Europe. The government has said it has no plans to review the age in England and Wales but in March the Liberal Democrat party passed a motion at its Spring conference calling for the age to be raised to 14. The party also agreed it wanted to see children put before panels of specially trained experts who would have the power to impose a range of measures.
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