Robberies by young people rise by 75pc

A teenage crime wave is sweeping Britain with the number of young muggers increasing by more than three quarters in the last decade.

The rise, which is the equivalent of 11 youngsters convicted everyday, comes as figures next week will suggest that robberies and burglaries are increasing across rural areas, adding to concerns that the recession is fuelling crime

In Cambridgeshire robberies rose by a third while in North Wales burglaries were up by almost a quarter.

Knife crime, and fraud and forgery offences are also rising, the Home Office annual crime statistics will show.

A total of 4,115, 10 to 17 year olds were convicted of robbery in 2007, the most recent data available. This was a 76 percent rise on the 2,342 found guilty in 1997, when Labour took power.

Those convicted of sex offences also increased by 16 percent, form 469 in 1997 to a total of 543 a decade later. In separate figures, of 26 police forces that replied to Freedom of Information requests, robberies by all age groups fell by six percent but that was due to a drop of 12 percent in the Metropolitan Police area.

If those figures are removed, total robberies increased. Chris Grayling, the shadow Home Secretary, said the figures on teenage crime were “a consequence of the Government’s failure to get to grips with anti-social behaviour”.

“We let young troublemakers get away unpunished with anti-social behaviour and so many think they can get away with it and move on to something worse,” he added.

A ministry of Justice spokesman said: “These figures show an increase in the number of young people convicted for robbery which reflects the Government’s tough response to crime. Between 2006 -07 and 2007-08, recorded personal robbery fell by 16 percent.

“There is no room for complacency and we have much more to do.”

By Tom Whitehead, Heidi
Blake and Jeni Oppenheimer