§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what age a boy or girl may be committed to prison in England and Wales.
§ Mr. John PattenAlthough a sentence of imprisonment cannot be passed on anyone under the age of 21, other custodial sentences are available. The minimum ages for custodial sentences for boys and girls are as follows. The sentence of detention in a young offender institution is available for boys from the age of 14 and girls from the age of 15 convicted of imprisonable offences. Detention under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 is available from the age of 10 for young people of either sex convicted of murder or manslaughter; and from the age of 14 for those convicted of other offences for which an adult may be imprisoned for 14 years or more.
Boys aged 15 or 16 charged with criminal offences and refused bail may be remanded in prison department custody if a court certifies them as being too unruly to be safely committed to local authority care. The adult remand arrangements apply to young people of either sex from the age of 17.