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Raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12
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The Liberal Democrats want to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, and deal with all under-14s who offend outside the criminal justice system. This motion was passed at their party conference.
Yet only recently the media reported the case of an 11-year-old boy from this ‘region’ who has already (since becoming 10 and legally ‘responsible’ for his actions) racked up 13 convictions for burglary and arson. Of course, the true figure of offences committed is likely to be far higher. Often the offender is not caught or there is insufficient evidence to prosecute; and in any case the police usually caution children for the first couple of offences, even if the offences are relatively serious.
Finally the wheels of justice have turned far enough to allow an ASBO to be imposed. This will undoubtedly be an inconvenience for him, but falls short of giving a strong message that society will not tolerate such behaviour. Society will not ‘punish’ criminal behaviour, merely try to manage it and hope that it goes away.
Under a LibDem government, this boy would be above the law altogether for another year, free to wreak havoc upon his estate and strike fear into the hearts of law-abiding citizens. It would probably be three further years before he sees the inside of a courtroom, and all the while society would reinforce the message that he can behave in this way without fear of punishment.
The naïve idealism of the Liberal Democrats makes their recent rise in the opinion polls very worrying. Too many people believe they are the cosy ‘middle ground’ between Labour and the Tories, when in reality their policies are dangerously misguided.
Under a LibDem government, with under-12s free from criminal responsibility, what would have happened to the 10-year-old boys who so brutally murdered James Bulger in the early 1990s?
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