Judges warn of teenage crime rise

London's courts are dealing with a dramatic rise in violent teenage crime, judges warned today.

Gang culture is fuelling both the carrying of knives and the use of Class A drugs among under-18s, youth court judges say.

Now the judges have decided to voice their concerns in the face of the soaring crime figures.

Their warning came as a snapshot survey by the Evening Standard revealed the serious offences dealt with on an average day by youth courts in the capital. It also comes as government spending watchdogs this week publish two reports revealing the full cost of youth crimes as £10 billion a year, with the cost to London's-economy put at £3.3 billion.

The National Audit Office and Audit Commission reports will show that one in five of all teenagers are believed to have committed a crime in the last year.

A total of 28,623 under-18s were either cautioned or found guilty of offences in London - including 3,182 who committed violence against the person and 209 for sexual offences.

A quarter of the violent and sexual offenders were girls and concern is growing among police over teenage involvement in a series of violent offences, particularly gang rape.

Evening Standard's survey concentrated on three of London's busiest youth courts - Thames in Bow, West London in Hammersmith and Lambeth - which between them cover much of inner London.

It shows how they dealt with a catalogue of crime, covering 80 serious offences in one day alone, including a 16-year-old charged with possessing an automatic handgun and converted firearm, dealing heroin and failing to surrender to police bail.

Three girls aged 16 appeared before one of the courts charged with robbing a woman of her mobile phone in Islington. In another case a 17-year-old was charged with possessing a lock-knife with a serrated blade.

The judges also dealt with a 16-year-old charged with dealing crack and possessing a knife, and a 17-year-old who assaulted his ex-girlfriend and threatened her with further violence.

Outside one of the courts, a youth spent the lunchtime adjournment of his case smoking cannabis with a group of friends before returning to continue with the trial.

A youth court judge with more than 10 years' experience said there had been a ratcheting-up from car crime and cannabis possession to far more serious offences since she first sat on the bench.

The judge, who asked not to be named because of the political sensitivity of the youth crime issue, said: "It can get a bit depressing with the gratuitous violence that goes on now, and it's getting worse. There are some very serious crimes being committed."

The growth of so-called Yardie violence has caused particular concern for judges and prosecutors. "The number of cases with guns has risen sharply in the last few years, perhaps due to the infusion of Yardie culture," added the judge.

A police officer who serves as a prosecution liaison officer said: "It used to be the school bully taking your dinner money, but times have changed . Now they want your mobile and they will stop at nothing to get it. Committing crimes just gets these kids street cred and we often have to turn away friends they have invited to see them in court."

One district judge, Michael Kelly, spoke frankly about his concerns. The judge, who has been sitting for 12 years in youth courts, said: "There are more drug cases, but not so many gun crimes - these tend to be in adult courts. But the ones we do get are worrying.

"It tends to be mostly cannabis, but heroin and cocaine are becoming cheaper and more kids are involved. The risk is that they go from softer to harder drugs because they have contact with dealers."

Police are worried that teenage gang culture is responsible for a surge in the number of gang rapes. Last week Scotland Yard revealed there was one gang rape for every day of last year, with more than half of the suspects aged between 15 and 21.

The Audit Commission and NAO reports, which are being published on Wednesday, will show that although the overall number of young offenders has fallen since a peak in 1992, the number of juveniles cautioned or convicted for violence, drug offences and robbery has risen steadily.

In total, 268,500 under-18s were arrested in England and Wales last year. The figure, which represents five per cent of their age group, is more than double the arrest rate of 2.4 per cent for the adult population.

The NAO will reveal that 93,200 young offenders were dealt with by courts in England and Wales, with almost 7,000 of them put into custody in young offenders' institutes or secure council accommodation.