The conclusion of Sir Igor Judge, president of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court, was a simple one: "Something is going wrong somewhere." The judge was referring to the number of young people currently locked up in England and Wales, a concern that featured prominently at the Youth Justice Board's annual convention last week.
With the latest Home Office figures showing that of the 77,680 people currently imprisoned in this country, 11, 305 are young people, mainly aged 15 to 20, and of these 2,449 are under the age of 18, Judge's concern is understandable.
The Youth Justice Board has been worrying about the rise in custody figures since early this summer, when monthly data showed sharp rises at a time when there is normally a seasonal drop in custody numbers. The problem is that however worried the board is about the rises - and the fear is that they are now putting already overcrowded prisons under even more pressure - it still isn't sure what is causing the rise, or how to stop it.
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