A quarter of young criminals in Bedfordshire reoffend within a year
A quarter of recently convicted young criminals in Bedfordshire reoffended within a year, latest figures show.
It comes as a prison reform charity warned the justice system routinely fails to give young offenders the support they need.
Latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show 126 people aged between 10 and 17 in the Bedfordshire Police area were convicted of crimes in the 12 months to March 2023.
Within a year of their conviction, 33 (26 per cent) of them had already reoffended.
This was lower than the rate for those convicted in the previous 12 months, when it was 29 per cent. A decade ago the figure stood at 41 per cent.
The reoffending rate in Bedfordshire was also lower than the rate across England and Wales as a whole, which was 32 per cent for those convicted in the year to March 2023.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said contact with the criminal justice system regularly leads young people towards further offending, rather than rehabilitation.
"While reoffending is concerning, these figures do not come as a surprise," he said.
"Academic research has shown that each contact a child has with the criminal justice system drags them deeper into it, leading to more crime.”
Across England and Wales, 86 per cent of juvenile offenders convicted in the 12 months to March 2023 were male, and 77 per cent of them were aged between 15 and 17.
Meanwhile, 70 per cent of them were white, 16 per cent were black and 5 per cent were Asian. The remainder did not have their ethnicity recorded.
Collectively, the 33 reoffenders in Bedfordshire committed 142 offences after their initial convictions.
A government spokesperson said custody was only ever used as a last resort for children, and having fewer in prison means those who do remain there are potentially more likely to reoffend.
They added: "We need young offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime. These 2023 figures show that there is still a lot of work to do.
"This Government is increasing access to education. Through Youth Offending Teams, we are also steering young people away from ever pursuing a life of crime."