Leicestershire Police log of children's fight 'perverse'

Members of a police committee said children were being criminalised

A fight between a six and seven-year-old boy in a park was recorded as actual bodily harm on a police database because of crime-recording rules.

The younger boy was recorded as a suspect after the other suffered a small cut to his head and his mother called Leicestershire Police.

Although he was too young to have a criminal record, his details are searchable on the police database.

Members of a police committee said children were being criminalised.

The Home Office said it required such incidents to be recorded for crime statistics.

• Latest news and stories from the East Midlands

The case was discussed at Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner's ethics, integrity and complaints committee meeting, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Deputy Chief Constable Rob Nixon said the way his officers have to record such incidents was "perverse" and they do not think it is "ethical or correct".

Another Leicestershire case was recorded as criminal damage when a 14-year-old girl smashed a glass by throwing it at a wall.

Her mother called the police as she wanted her daughter to realise she was putting herself at risk staying out late and mixing with older men.

It was logged as a domestic incident, which could be searchable.

'Acts of growing up'

Mr Nixon said the mother had called for professional advice and not to criminalise her daughter, but "if an allegation is made, it has to be recorded".

Lynne Richards, who sits on the panel, said: "Children shouldn't be criminalised for acts associated with growing up.

"We feel that there should be a request for another category for the recording of low-level crime related to behaviour but not an actual crime so that statistics are correct but a crime isn't recorded."

The Home Office said: "[Our] counting rules for recorded crime are victim-based and therefore require the recording of a crime when there is a victim.

"Police have wide discretion as to the action they take when any crime is reported to them."

In 2015, MPs called for rules to be changed to avoid criminalising children for "trivial misbehaviour".

What the Criminal Bar Association says...

Chris Henley QC, chairman of the association, said the six-year-old was below the age of criminal responsibility so cannot commit a criminal offence and the internal record "will inevitably be searchable by the police but should not be disclosed to the outside world".

He said: "To be required to record a six-year-old's details and brand the incident an ABH is arguably completely out of proportion, and an unnecessary burden on the police."

What the Standing Committee for Youth Justice says...

A spokeswoman said: "Children must be given the opportunity to grow up and move on from past mistakes. It is disproportionate and unreasonable to hold information on children under the age of criminal responsibility that could be later disclosed and damage employment opportunities.

"It is perfectly possible to record a crime for statistical purposes without recording personal details of young children that will stay on police databases indefinitely. A threshold for recording personal information or for disclosure should be created, and guidance should be issued to police."