Sharp rise in children committing crimes post-lockdown

Analysis of Youth Justice Board data by the Telegraph shows a drastic rise in the number of children caught committing crimes since the pandemic in 2020. There has been a 16% increase in under-18s arrested for all offences since lockdowns and a 9% rise in the past year – child arrests in total hit 58,507 in the year to last March. The biggest rise in arrests was for robbery, which is up by 31% to 5,981 in just a year. There has also been a 22% increase in children arrested for violence against the person, which ranges from assault to murder, to 18,220 in the year to March 2023. Simon Harding, a professor of criminology at St Mary’s University, London, said: “During the lockdowns, there was very much reduced opportunity for young people to access guidance, support and intervention from youth services, teachers or trusted adults. I worry that we may be feeling the repercussions of that.”