MPs call for review of age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales

Ministers also urged to explain disproportionate number of BAME children in custody

• Children in the dock

Conservative and Labour MPs have asked the government to consider raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 in England and Wales and to explain why a disproportionate number of children in custody are from a minority ethnic (BAME) background.

Child psychiatrists told the justice select committee that children’s brains are not fully formed by the age of 10, which is when they can be put on trial in England and Wales. Scotland recently increased its age limit to 12 and many other countries in the world only consider older teenagers culpable for crimes.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3lpWQ74