THE LEVEL of crime committed by young people in Coventry fell this year, according to a report before the city’s councillors.
Rates of re-offending also fell among youths involved the justice system.
The Youth Justice Plan, put to the city council’s ruling cabinet by the Coventry Youth Offending Service, recorded first-time youth offences dropping from 311 in 2017/18 to 235 in 2018 / 19, a 25 per cent decrease.
The service works with young offenders to prevent more crime, by providing training opportunities and ensuring offenders repair damage they have caused.
Youth custody rates were also the lowest on record for Coventry, as police kept fewer young people in cells.
The budget for the youth justice plan increased slightly compared to 2018, from £1.58 million to £1.6 million.
Coventry City Council contributes £766,000, with the remainder of the budget funded by other agencies including the NHS and the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Increased funding from West Midlands police, the NHS and the council is down to an additional staffing post and higher spending on staff.
The youth offending service also reported a spike in serious youth violence leading to more offenders locked up when kept on remand.
With more violent incidents, more cases were sent to crown court – nights for offenders spent on remand increased from 453 in 2017/18 to 1015 in 2018/19.
Cabinet councillors were this week being asked to endorse the Youth Justice Plan.
The service’s report noted successes such Coventry hosting the ‘Knife Angel’ sculpture. It states: “This was used to start discussions with some young people regarding the risks of knife crime, the motivation and pressures on young people who find themselves exposed to or directly engaged in weapon related incidents.
The most common crimes to involve young people were violent attacks (22 per cent), motoring offences (17 per cent), drugs (10 per cent) and theft (10 per cent)
