Young Offender Numbers On The Rise In Capital

The number of persistent young offenders in Edinburgh has jumped by 12 per cent in a year. New figures show a hardcore of 103 repeat offenders were referred to the children’s panel for 1043 offences in 2006-07.

The crimes ranged from breach of the peace and vandalism to theft and assault. In the previous year, 92 youngsters were responsible for 928 offences. Edinburgh’s boom in persistent young offending was well ahead of the national increase of three per cent.

But today Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, the city’s leader for education, children and families, claimed support from youth workers and other agencies had since helped 46 of the young people break away from persistent offending. And she said a pilot scheme monitoring antisocial behaviour and youth offending in south Edinburgh would be rolled out across the Capital.

David McLetchie, Tory MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, said he was concerned at the latest figures. He said: “Clearly we have to redouble the efforts of the police and social work agencies to tackle a persistent problem of young offending. I have no doubt we need to increase the number of police officers dedicated to community policing.”

In 2002 the Executive set out to reduce the number of persistent young offenders by ten per cent by 2006 and a further ten per cent by 2008. Instead, the figure increased by 16 per cent to 2005-06. The latest figures show there were 1429 persistent young offenders across Scotland, a further three per cent rise.

A “persistent young offender” is defined as a youngster who has been referred to the children’s panel five times within a six-month period. The youngsters covered by the statistics are mostly aged between eight and 15, but they include 16 or 17-year-olds who were already under a supervision order.

Lothian and Borders Police said the increase in the Capital reflected more pro-active policing, with 36 officers working in six youth action teams and a similar number in safer community units. A spokeswoman said: “We now have dedicated officers dealing exclusively with youth issues. They are operating in areas where young people are active and therefore they detect more offences.”

Earlier this year, the Evening News revealed ten teenagers were responsible for more than 1600 offences in three years. Cllr MacLaren said early intervention was crucial. “Of the 103 persistent young offenders in Edinburgh over the last year, 46 dropped this status after support agencies intervened,” she said.

She said the south Edinburgh project, which sees neighbourhood managers meet regularly with the police, was designed to monitor and react to antisocial behaviour. She added: “This can involve putting more police officers in certain streets or more youth workers being allocated to young people in a particular area. The intention is to roll this initiative out citywide.”

Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said in future persistent young offender figures will make the distinction between minor and more serious offences. He said: “The new approach will be about using information to help local teams address and identify young people who need help and support as well helping them to tackle more serious behaviour.”