Big drop in teens appearing in court

The number of Torbay's teenagers appearing at court for the first time has dropped. New figures show there has been a 67 per cent reduction in Bay youngsters aged 10 to 17 entering the criminal justice system.

In 2006 there were 399 young people appearing at Torquay's Youth Offenders' Court, but by 2009 the figures had dropped to 130.The statistics also show that for the year 2009/10 overall crime in Torbay is down by 12 per cent, with youth crime being down by 34 per cent.

Of the young people who do commit offences, approximately one in five goes on to commit a further offence within 12 months.

Torbay Council said the need to stamp out re-offending was one of the prime drives behind a campaign to lessen youth offending.They said the council was working with other agencies to halt youth offending at an early stage.

A spokesman added: "Torbay Council and its partners have invested in the development of increased diversionary activities, street-based teams and projects such as Operation Stay Safe.

"Additionally, the multi-agency Youth Offending Team has developed its service, applying a scaled approach to its work.

"This ensures that those young people who present the greatest risk of offending are provided with appropriate support and challenge.

"A significant focus has been given to the needs of victims and the community by increasing the amount of reparation activity and ensuring it is of benefit and visible to the community. The development of the Family Intervention Project has also provided a significant contribution to the reduction of crime by working with families to reduce antisocial behaviour and offending."

For 2009/10 antisocial behaviour is down by 14 per cent and rowdy nuisance behaviour is down by 21per cent.