Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases involving adults and children jointly charged, the child co-defendants were tried together with the adults in (a) an adult magistrates' court and (b) a Crown Court.

The vast majority of children and young people have their cases heard by specially trained magistrates in the Youth Court.

Where a trial may involve both youth and adult co-defendants criminal courts must consider whether it is in the interests of justice to keep the defendants together and deal with them in the adult magistrates’ court or the Crown Court. In reaching this decision courts must take into account factors such as age, maturity, culpability, inconvenience to witnesses or injustice to the case as a whole, including whether there are benefits in the same tribunal sentencing all offenders.

Overall crime is down and fewer young people are offending. Proven offending by under-18s has reduced by 44 percent since 2010/11, while the number of first time entrants to the system has fallen by 39 percent over the same period. The number of young people dealt with in the criminal courts has also fallen, reducing by 51% between 2010 and 2013.

HMCTS do not centrally collate data on the number of young people and adults jointly charged and subsequently tried together.

Table 1 shows the number of cases where a child or young person has been tried in (a) the adult magistrates’ court. A child or young person may only be tried in the adult magistrates’ courts where they are a co-defendant with an adult and the court has decided that it is in the interests of justice to keep the defendants together.

Table 1: Young people aged 10-17 tried at adult magistrates' courts, England and Wales, 2010-2013

Table 2 shows the number of cases where there was at least one youth defendant and at least one adult defendant from 2009/10 to 2013/14 in (b) the Crown Court.

Table 2: Young people aged 10-17 tried at the Crown Court, England and Wales, 2009 - 2013

We are considering the recommendations made by the recent inquiry by Parliamentarians, chaired by Lord Carlile, including the recommendation concerning where cases involving children and young people are heard.

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(1) Excludes cases that were discontinued, where the charge was withdrawn, where the defendant failed to appear, and committals for trial to the Crown Court.

(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

(3) A child or young person may only be tried in the adult magistrates’ courts where they are a co-defendant with an adult and the court has decided that it is in the interests of justice to keep the defendants together.

(4) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

(5) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.