Youth Justice Board (YJB) figures have shown the number of offences committed by young people remained stable between 2003-04 and 2004-05.
The YJB annual review for 2004-05 shows 287,013 offences were committed by 10- to 17-year-olds. In 2003-04, 10- to 17-year-olds committed 287,883 offences, up on the 2002-03 figure of 268,480.
A spokeswoman for the YJB said the figures show a tiny minority of young people are involved in crime, and stressed the figures show the number of offences rather than the number of offenders. One person might have committed two or three offences, she said.
The figures show significant increases and decreases in certain types of offence. Breaches of a statutory order such as an antisocial behaviour order rose from 11,175 in 2003-04 to 13,378 in 2004-05. However, drugs offences fell from 13,522 to 11,879.
