CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 10

⇒ A child below the age of 10 cannot be convicted of a criminal offence (Children and Young Persons Act 1933, section 50). This is an absolute rule.

⇒ A child who commits a serious offence may be taken into care by the local authority, but this is a civil, not criminal, matter.

A CHILD AGED 10 TO 14

⇒ A child between 10 and 14 can be convicted of a crime.

⇒ Section 34 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 abolished the common law presumption that a child between 10 and 14 was doli incapax, meaning that a child was not capable of committing a crime because he or she did not know the difference between right and wrong.

Young people aged 18

Young people aged 18 are treated as an adult by the law.

If they’re sent to prison, they’ll be sent to a place that holds 18 to 25-year-olds, not a full adult prison.