Scotland's two-year youth court pilot at Hamilton Sheriff Court had to wind up its first-ever session on 2 June after five minutes when one of two young offenders failed to appear. Following the first case, of a 17-year-old who pleaded not guilty to 14 separate charges, Sheriff Hugh Nielson issued a warrant for the arrest of the second teenager, who failed to attend to answer charges of breach of the peace and exposing himself to police officers.
Paul Hughes, a youth court clerk, said the 16-year-old had been arrested the same night and appeared in court the next day. After pleading guilty, the 16-year-old will appear at the court on 24 June. Under the pilot, young offenders can face community service orders or electronic monitoring.
The court forms part of the Scottish Executive's new crackdown on young offenders in its antisocial behaviour bill, likely to be introduced this autumn.
Young offenders will be subject to regular court reviews of their progress, normally overseen by the same sheriff.
Keith Simpson, head of service development at community safety organisation Sacro, was critical of the youth court because, like adult courts, "there is no incentive to plead guilty".
"Building a restorative justice approach into the criminal justice process offers a far better long-term solution," said Simpson. "Until these options are fully incorporated into the youth court system, more cases will end up being postponed."
Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland and Tory deputy spokesperson on justice and home affairs, said the existing system was good enough.
"I'd rather see money spent on young offenders aged 12 to 15," she added.
