Growing pains

For two boys aged ten and 11, thoughts of the next two months would normally consist of little more than Wayne Rooney and the World Cup campaign.

But for the children convicted of attempted rape last week, the summer holiday will instead be spent awaiting sentencing from the Old Bailey.

The emotive case, in which the two defendants only just edged over the age of criminal responsibility, has left few lawyers satisfied.

With even the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) insisting its decision to commit the case to Crown Court was gut-wrenching, campaigning lawyers have surfaced to demand this is the beginning of the end for the current youth justice system.

Barrister Shauneen Lambe, co-founder of the Just for Kids charity that was awarded the not-for-profit-agency gong at last week's Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards, said: 'We have just traumatised three children. Do we really need to do that?

'There is so much criticism from the European Court of Human Rights on our country putting cases into Crown Court at all, we should be looking for a more welfare-based system rather than criminalising our young people.

'Even with all the proper procedures put in place, with parents sitting beside the children and wigs and gowns removed, the problem is this is a system that is designed for adults.'

The lawyers directly involved in the case have been roundly praised for their handling of the delicate situation, with every measure available under the current system taken to ensure the intimidation in court was kept to a minimum.

Defending the CPS decision for a full trial, Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor, said: 'This was never going to be an easy case for a court to hear but that does not absolve the CPS of its duty to prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so and a prosecution is in the public interest.

'The decision to prosecute was not taken lightly. Rape and attempted rape are very serious offences and the defendants were both very young. The CPS was determined that they should have a fair trial and every effort was made to that end.

'We hope that the jury's verdict can provide the young girl and her family with some comfort after these difficult events."

But for stalwart campaigner and children's solicitor Laura Janes, from the Howard League for Penal Reform, this attitude glosses over the root of the problem.

'In no way am I saying it would be appropriate to just ignore such a serious case.

'But we are giving out an extremely mixed message here '“ not only does England have pretty much the lowest age of criminal responsibility in Europe, it also has the largest gap between this and the age a child is deemed to be capable of consensual sex. A child is criminally responsible at ten but not considered sufficiently mature to have sex until 16.

'If such radical changes are required when trying young children in court to make it fair, doesn't that suggest that it is the system itself that is flawed, and that we need to start from scratch if we are actually going to get it right?'

The Ministry of Justice, which now has sole responsibility for youth justice, swiftly announced a review following the flurry of interest in the trial.

'We are committed to ensuring that the justice system is fair, accessible, and delivers the justice victims and witnesses deserve and demand, this includes young and vulnerable children,' read the MoJ's official statement, adding: 'In recent years a lot of thought has gone into this agenda, and we will certainly be reviewing to what extent this has been successful as we continue to extend fair and accessible justice.'

But the new coalition has insisted it will hold firm on the age of criminal responsibility.

A comment from the MoJ said: 'The government believes that children are old enough to differentiate between bad behaviour and serious wrong-doing at age ten.

'Setting the age of criminal responsibility at age ten allows frontline services to intervene early and robustly, preventing further offending and helping young people develop a sense of personal responsibility for their behaviour.

'In practice, the majority of young people are not prosecuted in court and there are rehabilitative processes in place, which include interventions to tackle offending behaviour and underlying problems.'

Critics argue this unwillingness to reassess the basic principles of youth justice will render any other reforms futile.

Ms Lambe added: 'Of course children know right from wrong, my three-year-old knows that, but it is whether or not you can really understand the consequences of your actions that matters.

'If the purpose of our justice system is to seek truth and punishment, I don't think this is the way to do it.'