Daily roundup: Violent crime, child health, and school absence

More than 11,000 children aged 10 and 11 have avoided prosecution for violent crimes including conspiracy to murder and rape, Ministry of Justice figures show. The Daily Mail reports that 9,099 boys and 2,224 girls were warned, reprimanded or cautioned in the last seven years for a range of violent offences, but were not taken to court.

The Welsh Government has confirmed it will ban smoking in cars with children. The Western Mail reports that First Minister Carwyn Jones and health minister Mark Drakeford said a consultation will launch shortly after MPs voted in February to punish smoking in cars with children, with a £60 fine or points on a driving licence.

Parents in London are more likely to lie about taking their children out of school during term-time than those elsewhere in the country, a study has found. The Evening Standard reports that 62 per cent of Londoners had lied about why their child was absent from school compared with 50 per cent nationally. Parents who take their children out of school during term-time to take them on holiday face a fine of up to £2,500 or a jail sentence of up to three months.

The number of missing children in the London Borough of Redbridge has more than doubled in the last two years, police have revealed. The Waltham Forest Guardian reports that in 2013/14 there were 1,219 children reported missing in the borough, compared to 518 reports in 2011/12.

A "chaotic" nursery is failing to protect children's welfare and health, according to an Ofsted inspection. The Waltham Forest Guardian reports that inspectors rated Rainbow Kids Nursery in Malmesbury Road, South Woodford, as inadequate. The nursery was criticised because some staff had not received enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

Electronic cigarettes risk “re-normalising” smoking and pose a “considerable risk” to children in Cumbria it has been claimed. The North West Evening Mail reports that Colin Cox, director of public health at Cumbria County Council, fears that increasingly colourful designs and a variety of “flavours” seen in the past 12 months could be getting children addicted to nicotine even when they would not have tried smoking.