458,000 pounds bill for four juvenile offenders

THE HIGH costs of persistent juvenile offenders were underlined yesterday when a chief constable disclosed that four teenagers had committed more than 750 offences - costing society pounds 458,000 in policing and legal expenses and insurance claims.

Dan Crompton, Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire, said in his annual report that some of the cost is passed on to the public through higher insurance premiums - insurance losses accounted for pounds 227,000 of the total bill.

'Unless this type of offender is more positively addressed, society will continue to foot the bill for property crime and will attract justifiable criticism that reducing the cost of the criminal justice system has resulted in that cost being transferred to victims (and others) by way of vastly increased insurance premiums.'

Abbey National increased household insurance premiums by 37 per cent this week because of increased burglary claims.

Mr Crompton says the study illustrates the costs of dealing with juveniles who reoffend after being given bail or non-custodial sentences. The Criminal Justice Act has been widely criticised for preventing magistrates from considering previous convictions when sentencing.

'There are some aspects (of the Act) which will not help, in the remotest way, the battle against the repetitive offender. The Act, without doubt, will require to be reviewed within 12 months . . . . In some cases 'punishment within the community' is becoming 'punishment of the community'.'

The study shows that one of the juveniles, aged 16, had been convicted of 115 offences and asked for a further 155 to be taken into consideration. From his first offences in the late 1980s until early summer last year, he cost society pounds 153,382.

The others - aged 14, 16 and 17 - were charged with 64, 56 and 88 offences respectively over the same period, with each asking for dozens more to be taken into consideration.

The four are among a hard core of 25 offenders in Nottinghamshire who committed 17.6 per cent of all juvenile crime in 1991. Out of 59 court adjudications, only 11 per cent resulted in custodial sentences.

The cost to the police alone of investigating one burglary, in which pounds 2,000 of property was stolen and for which three juveniles were charged, was more than pounds 500.

The case against one was proved and he was ordered to spend 24 hours at an attendance centre.

----------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT YOUNG CRIMINALS CAN COST ----------------------------------------------------------------- NUMBER OF Boy A Boy B Boy C Boy D OFFENCES (age 16) (14) (16) (17) 270 139 125 231 COSTS (pounds) Administration 2,126 1,951 1,758 1,875 Victim loss 45,946 27,746 20,433 24,887 Insurance loss 77,000 34,000 15,230 101,490 Police 5,200 5,857 4,529 5,578 Duty solicitor 147 257 319 269 Social worker 143 299 338 429 CPS 3,325 2,945 2,565 2,850 Magistrates 7,595 6,727 5,859 6,510 Legal Aid 11,900 10,540 9,180 10,200 Total 153,382 90,322 60,211 154,088 -----------------------------------------------------------------