The warning comes after a report by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons found that the proportion of black and minority ethnic (BME) children, already hugely over-represented in the system, rose to 39 per cent in 2010/11 from 33 per cent in 2009/10.
The proportion of foreign national young men increased to six per cent from four per cent in 2009/10 and the number identified as Muslim rose to 16 per cent from 13 per cent in 2009/10.
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the Youth Justice Board has failed to tackle the over-representation of BME children in the criminal justice system for many years.
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