HC Deb 17 February 1998 vol 306 c544W
Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 15 and 16-year-olds remanded to adult prison accommodation on a subsequent court appearance were(a) found not guilty of all charges and (b) sentenced to a non-custodial sentence in the most recent years for which figures are available. [29258]

Mr. Michael

Information on the sentencing of juveniles held on remand in adult prison accommodation is not collected centrally. Information is available on the sentencing of juveniles remanded in custody by the court, although the place of remand is not collected.

Juveniles who are refused bail are usually remanded to local authority accommodation. Exceptionally, 15 or 16-year-old boys meeting certain conditions may be remanded to a remand centre or prison. These conditions are: that the defendant is charged with a violent or sexual offence or one punishable in the case of an adult with imprisonment for a term of 14 years or more; or that the defendant has a history of absconding while remanded in local authority accommodation and is charged with or has been convicted of an imprisonable offence alleged or found to have been committed while he was so remanded. and in either case, that the court considers that only a remand to a remand centre or prison would be adequate to protect the public from serious harm from him.

In 1996, the most recent year for which information is available, some 840 male defendants aged 15 or 16 appeared in court having been remanded in custody and charged with a violent or sexual offence or one punishable in the case of an adult with imprisonment for a term of 14 years or more. Of these, 220 were acquitted, found not guilty, had the charge withdrawn or were not proceeded against; 280 were sentenced to immediate custody and a further 340 were sentenced to a non-custodial sentence. No information is available on either previous propensity to abscond or court deliberations.