JERSEY’S youth justice system needs overhauling, as the number of children held in custody is ‘unacceptably high’, according to an independent report released today.
The Howard League for Penal Reform’s long-awaited report into Jersey’s youth justice system says that the Island has a higher custody rate than many of its European neighbours. Greenfields remand home also comes under fire in the report, which reveals that the controversial and ‘unlawful’ ‘Grand Prix’ system – in which solitary confinement was allegedly used to counter bad behaviour – has left some staff ‘divided’ with a ‘great deal of distrust’ in some of the management.
The Howard League team, a prison reform charity, is now urging the Island to immediately sign up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which gives all children and young people more rights.
Jersey’s custody rate is slightly higher than England and Wales, more than four times that in France and more than 100 times that in Finland.
The Howard League for Penal Reform have made over 20 recommendations for reform and say that the use of custody for children should be eliminated and holding children at La Moye prison should stop. They also recommend that the legal age of responsibility be raised to 14 and that the Island’s Youth Court become far less formal.
• Picture: A prison van leaves Greenfields remand home
Article posted on 14th November, 2008 - 3.00pm
24 Article Comments
yeah give children more rights –
I’ll tell you something now – kids were a lot better behaved when they were allowed to be punished… now you can’t even give your child a smack on the bottom without going to jail for it- no wonder this generation doesn’t care about anything or anyone if they’ve never had to pay the consequences of their actions
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With reference to Greenfields and the Grand Prix system which has been found to be abusive and against childrens’ rights, why do I keep hearing Jim Perchard saying it has never been used. I distinctly remember watching on BBC television Joe Kennedy giving a full description, with diagrams, of the Grand Prix system that he had introduced and used at Greenfields.
I now need to ask if he is still employed in any capacity at Greenfields or in child care at all. If he is, then would this be another case of civil servants being far more important than children?
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Maybe the reason why we have so many children in detention is because we actually lock them up rather than letting them roam the streets causing more trouble and generating more crime like in the UK.
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The Howard League review is a shocking indictment of recent and present day practices in relation to child care in Jersey. Our politicians and civil servants have failed miserably on several counts. For example, the imprisonment of young people at La Moye Prison and the recent use of the illegal and abusive‘Grand Prix’system in which children were (allegedly) put into solitary confinement for extended periods in cold, bare rooms at Greenfields. The powers that be are still denying that this took place but their denials now carry no weight in light of the Howard League review whose findings are based in part on interviews with members of staff and the young residents.
If a society is judged on how well it looks after its children then Jersey falls short. There has been a shameful failure to act. People should be held to account.
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I agree with everything EXCEPT raising the legal age of responsibility!
We need to be holding kids (AND their parents) more accountable for their actions, not less! Raising the age will just teach kids, who know exactly what they are doing thank you very much, that they can get away with it. Do we really need that? There are enough rotten kids in Jersey without encouraging more.
I have nieces and I know that the 10-year old clearly knows the difference between right and wrong. She knows that it is wrong to hurt someone or damage someone else’s property and she would be punished if she ever did these things. She knows that if she does such things she will be held responsible for it.
We need more discipline and more retribution not less. If we stop locking up the kids then we will have to start locking up their parents. Someone needs to be held responsible for the crimes these kids commit, preferably parent AND child!
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Having read the Howard League Report, I only hope that we can drag ourselves out of the 1970s and adopt the recommendations that have been made.
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well well, perhaps all you Syvret bashers will now sit up and take note. It was Senator Syvret who invited the Howard League to come over to the island and do this independant inquiry. Not without some predictable objections from the people who couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
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Raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, oh no! It’s bad enough now with 10 to 14 year olds running riot on the estate we live on, what will it be like when they know they can’t be held responsible for damaging and even stealing vehicles and property and intimidating their elders. The majority of the parents of these children think they are little angels.
My son caused damage when he was in his early teens, not only did he have to attend parish hall and juvenile court, we had to pay for the damage.
Keep the criminal responsibility age at 10 and also haul the parents up for not being responsible parents.
Been there, done it.
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I have not heard anyone give statisticks of crimes committed per capita of under 16s UK V Jersey
Until then we will not know if the Grand Prix system actualy worked ?
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Comparing Jersey with the UK in any meaningfull way is very difficult.
Jersey is a lot more middle class and affluent than the UK as a whole. So for example our GCSE results are better than the UK average.
A fair comparison would probably be one of the Outer London boroughs, a lot of City workers plus some immigrants.
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If even more kids are to be allowed to get away with their crimes then we need a system in place to allow us to claim back monetary compensation for losses and distress from their pocket money (and their parents to top up the difference).
I suggest that this monetary compensation has quite a high value (say minimum £10k for a smashed window) and see if that forces the neglectful parents to actually start disciplining their brats.
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Recently in the JEP they had the article on the Howard league saying that children under the age of 14yrs should not be held responsible for thier crimes. A couple of pages later and there was an article about 3 youths aged 10, 12, 13yrs, who broke into someone’s house and then set fire to it. Shame it wasn’t one of the Howard league experts house.
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Perhaps we need more understanding of the needs of these wayward children. The majority come from broken families and they go to extraordinary lengths to gain attention through stealing, menacing neighbours etc. They need time and understanding by caring people, only then will they become socially normal.
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Time and understanding by caring people?
Are you serious?
I came from a broken home but never stole or menaced anyone.
Its nothing to do with gaining attention, its all about knowing what you can get away with, which currently is quite a lot.
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WELL SAID DK
At least in the report our honorary system gets praise.
Amazing, as our honorary systam is at least 600 years old.
One would expect an institution with that sort of heritage and expirienced to be rubished by the modern dogooders
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Syd
When did he do this? Was it before or AFTER he spent 8 years in charge of these policies???
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Ann, while I understand the sentiment of what you say, too many kids are being allowed to use their upbringing as an excuse. Plenty of kids have broken families, plenty suffer abuse and neglect. My nieces were in this category prior to being adopted. They were still amazingly well-behaved, kind, considerate children and they have virtually raised themselves such was the level of their mother’s absence!
There are a small percentage of kids where their upbringing is to blame, but most know that what they are doing is wrong but just enjoy causing pain and misery for others. AND, they can get away with it because our justice system lets them.
Getting tough on crime is the only answer to saving today’s society. Get tough and THEN find out if these kids have any social problems they need help with.
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Syvret was in charge of department which allowed the maligned Grand Prix system and thus must take responsibility for any critism of the care in the homes. Shame he never visited them or he may have acted much quicker.
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Yeah Ad and joker, maybe he should even have done exactly the same as many of the others and just brushed it asside once he was aware of anything wrong. After that if it still came to light then he could also deny anything ever happened again just like many others.
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care home or not it doesn’t matter- kids today have far too many rights and they know it. There is no excuse for misbehaving as all children over the age of 8 living in jersey know the difference between right and wrong.
We are living in a time where children know they are doing wrong but also know there won’t be any consequences as if their parents raise their hand to them they can just tell their teachers they are being abused. I knew of one child of 7 years old who because his father grounded him he told the teachers he was a smackhead!! (The father went through several tests to prove he has never taken drugs along with several interviews from child wellfare!)
The child didn’t even get punished for saying such a lie! – bring back the ruler treatment in school!
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Does a child not have the right to live free of physical violence, emotional and sexual abuse. If you mistreat a child there is a significant risk that child may grow up to abuse again; ‘I was beaten with the belt and it never did me any harm’ is a favourite refrain heard all too often.
If we accept that kids have rights then somewhere we have to draw the line and create boundaries as to how we deal with them. You cannot expect a child to understand that it is wrong to inflict violence on another as an adult; when this was done to him or her as a child.
The sooner we all start treating kids with respect, the sooner we will reduce adult crime and live in a safer environment. There are very few bad kids just useless or screwed-up parents. If we act and think as guardians charged with guiding a child to adulthood and not treat our children as possessions we would get half way there.
Before anyone thinks’ I am a mole for Social Services or the Howard League for Penal Reform read on; 14 years as an inner city police officer in one of the rougher areas of England, stabbed spat on and thumped by obnoxious kids and even more disgusting parents. Beating kids, sticking then down coal mines, up chimneys, in brothels and factories did not work then and nor will the modern equivalent.
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nice to see the old ’spare the rod and spoil the child’ brigade are still alive and frothing at the mouth. It amazes me that children manage to survive at all when they are surrounded on all sides by ‘adults’.
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Blimey Bruce. Is there anything you do like on this website?
I’m going to send a box of chocolates up west this Christmas to put a smile back on your face my old friend.
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Parenting doesn’t have to use violence or even be horribly strict, but it does have to be consistent from the day the child is born. Don’t let kids away with being rude or aggressive as toddlers and they will learn early on how to behave properly.
As toddlers kids naturally push boundaries, but too many parents give in cause they can’t take the crying or the strop anymore and giving in is ‘easier’. Well, if you can’t deal with kids behaving like this then for goodness sake don’t have them! And if you’re going to just give them to a nanny everyday then please don’t bother either! You can spot the kids whose parents just gave in, they’re the ones that are already swearing, spitting and being bratty despite barely being out of nappies.
For the kids that are already teenagers and are into petty crime, however, I don’t see much option but warnings from the court that the next crime they commit will be punished with a jail term. That’s fair, they have their warning, they know the consequences if they continue their criminal behaviour!
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