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How the Youth Justice Service works
Young people arrested for a crime they admit to,
can receive a reprimand once. If they re-offend they will receive
a final warning which involves an assessment from the Youth Offending
Team (YOT) and where appropriate, the introduction of a voluntary
programme to resolve whatever issues have been exposed. If the
offence is serious, then reprimands and final warnings are by-passed
and the young person goes to court. If the young person denies
the offence, the Crown Prosecution Service will decide if there
is a case to answer and sufficient evidence to back it up, if
so, it goes to court.
At court, providing that the offence doesn’t carry a custodial
sentence and is a first conviction, the young person will get
a referral order. This can be up to a year. Following assessment
by YOT, the young person is required to attend a Youth Offender
Panel made up of trained lay people. The Panel reads the report,
listens to the young person, the parent/guardian and also the
victim - in those cases where the victim attends. A contract is
negotiated with the young person and parent/guardian designed
to address factors that led to the offending. If the young person
refuses, or agrees but fails to comply, they return to the Panel
who can take the decision to return them to court for breach of
the order. They will then be re-sentenced.
If the young person has been convicted before, or
if a first offence is serious enough to make custody a possibility,
a referral order is not an option. In these cases the YOT assesses
and writes a pre-sentence report highlighting issues that need
addressing to divert the young person from further crime. YOT
make a recommendation for a suitable sentence and the court then
makes their decision. The court chooses from the following options:
a supervision order, an action plan order, a reparation order,
an attendance centre order and, as a last resort, prison. In all
these cases YOT are responsible for designing and delivering the
programmes of intervention required.
More information from Nick Smith on Telephone 01442
388755 or email nick.smith@hertscc.gov.uk
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