London Youth Reoffending: Nearly a Third Repeat Crime in a Year

Hey, want to hear something interesting? In London, 2,339 young people got convicted of crimes between March 2022 and March 2023. These kids were between ten and seventeen years old.

Around 30% of these young offenders did it again quickly, committing another crime within a year. This is lower than the previous year’s rate of 33%. Ten years ago, it was much higher, around 46%.

London’s rate is also better than England and Wales overall, whose rate was 32% for the same time period. So, London is doing a bit better at preventing repeat offenses.

A charity called Howard League spoke about these stats. They think the justice system isn’t helping kids enough; the system may push them toward more crime. Instead, kids need help and understanding to change.

Across England and Wales, most young offenders are male, about 86% were boys. Most were also older teens, between fifteen and seventeen. White kids made up 70% of offenders, Black kids were 16%, and Asian kids were 5%.

Those 713 young re-offenders in London committed many crimes. They did 2,484 new offenses after their first convictions. The government says prison is a last resort, wanting fewer kids in jail. They say they help young people avoid crime.