To see this offender as a “criminal first” as opposed to a child?

[cofefefela]

I was robbed last week by some disgusting male who had been following me, he threatened to kill me, ignored me begging him not to etc. The absolute waste of oxygen’s movements could then be followed as some of my stolen electronics had tracking. This twat not only kept returning to the scene of the crime, he ended up robbing someone else there days later!

He has now been arrested. There’s CCTV footage of him committing the crime so he’s been charged and it’s gone to court. He’s had the audacity to plead not guilty and I found out he’s a youth defendant. There will be a trial next year, and my stolen property has not been recovered.

This has made me annoyed as he’ll likely end up with a slap on the wrist as he’s a “child”, although he had no problem committing such serious crimes repeatedly and showing zero remorse throughout. Aibu? I feel like he should be tried as an adult, he’s a danger to society.

Just lock them up to keep law-abiders safe.

There's a difference between not admitting guilt in court because you're worried about the consequences and doing it because you don't care about the person you've harmed though. Rehabilitation takes time and work and intervention... someone might not care at the point of sentencing but that doesn't mean that they couldn't be worked with to help them see that they should care and why and to actually let that feeling in which for a lot of young offenders is actually really daunting as healthy emotion for many of them is seen as weakness growing up. Especially since a disproportionate number will have come through the care system and been abused/ neglected themselves.

It needs to be done properly and be appropriate

Revenge? What a nasty, manipulative way to frame it. It’s called justice, we’re meant to be entitled to it.

OP, I’m so sorry you went through that, it’s an Awful thing to go through and disgusting that he can get off so lightly. I hope you’re getting some therapy or other support to help process it.

The main purpose of prison is to keep law-breakers locked up away from law-abiders. Any "rehabilitation" that occurs is great, but that's not what prison is for.

But 'prison' is only a small part of a custodial sentence

Large part of a sentence is served out in the community on licence, tag whatever is deemed suitable.

Prison is for public protection and to educate an support to stop reoffending

It's for both

I want to know where all this rehabilitation is happening because I’m not seeing it as the court round ups are showing all the same suspects nearly every 3-6 months some 9 months but you get the picture

is it because it takes a lot longer the 3-9 months to get into a programme as there is wait list because there is no money.

I’m also thinking the court case won’t be heard till he's 18 and he could be looking at jail time here but it’ll be most likely a short sentence till he reoffends again which he may well do.

Thanks everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is close to 18 - I thought he was around 18-20.

I hope the subsequent robbery on someone else after he attacked me counts against him regardless. I’m not sure how that works from a court perspective. As in, if he will be trialled for a series of robberies or if it will be separated out. I suppose if it is separated out, the first offence can be used as possible bad character evidence due to a relevant conviction for the second offence.

Parents should be charged

They will likely take into account that the offence happened while he was still a child.

Rehabilitation is inadequate for sure but that's due to lack of funding. We know that in terms of politics people vote for harsher sentencing and time spent in prison so that's what funding tends to be allocated towards to temporarily curry public favour. Then other supportive and rehabilitative services (the ones that statistically we know work) are underfunded. Community resources are part of this - there needs to be a coordinated effort when someone is leaving prison that starts before they leave and continues well after to encourage them to avoid reoffending. When community services are all also set the brink due to repeated funding cuts of course that has an impact. Years of austerity and a tory gov has impacted this in massive ways.

This

Recidivism.

I’d like to see that the stats show that processes for handling ‘youth’ crime produce better results than the adult system, before believing a slap on the hand is the better approach.

And do these younger criminals actually get all the mentoring and support the models are built on? Or, like so much else in our ‘justice’ system, is there no money, time or inclination to run them properly (or at all)?

In which case, ALL we’re doing is keeping them out of an adult prison for a year or two longer and crossing our fingers that somehow they’ll see the light. By themselves. That doesn’t seem like an approach that’ll work very often AND we leave victims of their crimes with no feeling of justice having been served.

Double standards for heinous crimes committed against women and against the government. If he was a rioter , he would be sentenced from 12 years old as we have witnessed it. The same rule doesn't apply to 17 yo youth violent robber.

surely the longer the sentence, the lower the chance of reoffending?

If the inverse was true, not sending offenders to jail at all would eliminate all reoffending.

Sorry but there have been known cases of waiting till they hit adult age then jail them I’ve seen it happen, well court first then jail but most 16/18-25 are at young offenders then after 25 they are put in adult jails. 16 is Scotland 18 is England and Wales for clarity.

There are homes very much like kids jails for younger kids but they are extreme cases and they are locked up most of the time. Yes I know rareish but there all the same.

op has the case went to court yet is there dates for it. Has he been charged for any offences as that could have some baring on what might happen with the police and courts.

I know loads of 18/19 and up who are in adult jail

There's no room fort all YA's to go to YA units.

Prison does not work, at all, as a deterrent. In fact it makes reoffending more likely.

So if we did away with prison, crime would go down, and not up?

Yes. Pretty much. Take the same group of young people...all committing the same crimes. The ones caught and sent to prison do much worse than the ones either not caught at all or those given suspended sentences. The ex prisoners reoffend. Lets face it they are unemployable after prison unless Timpson take them on. The ones who got away with it, generally grow up and get on with normal lives.

What exactly am I supposed to do? Change the law?

Friend had a group of armed men break into her house when she was there.

Police arrived after 44 minutes. To give her a crime number

What exactly do you want me to do? Was more the point of my post. You were spouting off at me as if it's my job lol

Dividing people into two groups...law breakers and law abiders is just such simplistic nonsense. A crime can range from anything from not paying your TV licence to mass murder. Are you totally incapable of any nuanced thinking?

Most do younger ones go but older will go to adult jails too but are usually in solitary or sick bay away from the other men. I say usually but not always as yup the jails are full and then some