ged fewer than 10 is irrefutably presumed to be incapable of committing an offence. Prior to 1998 a child aged between 10 and 14 was presumed to be incapable of committing an offence unless the prosecution were able to prove that the child knew the difference between right and wrong, although a range of mitigating factors particular to childhood are normally taken into account in England and Wales. Now, children aged 10 and 17 are capable of committing offences and it is not possible for a child to avoid liability by showing that they do not know the difference between right and wrong. However, a child should not be found guilty if they are unfit to plead.exceptional circumstances, most notably the case of the murder of Jamie Bulger in Liverpool in 1993, children can be tried as an adult in an adult court.the age of 17 onwards, individuals are then considered an adult in the eyes of the law. Therefore, all punishment given by the courts or other law enforcement agencies will rest solely upon them.
1.4.2 Arrest
After a person aged ten to 17 has been arrested and taken to a police station, Code C lt; # justify gt; · he is satisfied the interview would not significantly harm the person's physical or mental state; and
· delay would be likely to either
· lead to interference with, or harm to, evidence connected with an offence,
· lead to interference with, or physical harm to, other people,
· lead to serious loss of, or damage to, property,
· lead to alerting other people suspected of committing an offence but not yet arrested for it, or hinder the recovery of property obtained in consequence of the commission of the offence.an interview where an appropriate adult is present , an appropriate adult should:
· advise the person being interviewed;
· observe whether the interview is being conducted properly and fairly; and facilitate communication with the person being interviewed.
1.4.3 Prosecution, reprimands and final warnings
The Crown Prosecution service has produced detailed guidance on prosecuting juveniles.police officer may proceed by way of reprimand or (final) warning, where the following conditions are satisfied:
· a constable has evidence that a child or young person ( the offender ) has committed an offence;
· the constable considers that the evidence is such that, if the offender were prosecuted for the offence, there would be a realistic prospect of his being convicted;
· the offender admits to the constable that he committed the offence;
· the offender has not previously been convicted of an offence; and
· the constable is satisfied that it would not be in the public interest for the offender to be prosecuted. police officer can either give the offender a reprimand or a final warning. A final warning is more serious. Once a person has received one reprimand he can not receive a second. A person may be given a final warning without a reprimand if the seriousness of the offence warrants this course. A person may exceptionally be given a second (but not a third) final warning if the offence was committed more than two years after the date of the previous warning and the constable considers the offence to be not so serious as to require a charge to be brought .the case of a juvenile under the age of 17, the reprimand or final warning should be given in the presence of an appropriate adult. Where a police officer gives a final warning, he should refer the offender to the local youth offending team who should arrange for him to participate in a rehabilitation programme unless they consider it inappropriate to do so. system of reprimand and final warning was replaced in 2013 by youth cautions and youth conditional cautions by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
1.4.4 Bail
A juvenile has a general right to bail.for adults, the main reasons for refusing bail are that the defendant is accused of an imprisonable offence and there are substantial grounds for believing that the defendant:
· will abscond;
· will commit further offences whilst on bail; or
· will interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice whether in relation to himself or any other person. court may also refuse bail for the juvenile's own protection or welfare or for a limited number of other reasons.
A juvenile s parent may be asked to act as a surety for up to? 50 for the juvenile s atten...
