Background to the Research

• The Northern Ireland Office commissioned this research:
  • To provide a comprehensive account of the issues surrounding the questioning, cautioning, charging and detention of young people;
  • To investigate all the issues and produce an informed critique and assessment of these;
  • To take consideration of the Human Rights Act 1998 and section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998;
  • To make recommendations which may inform future practice.
    

Research Approach

• A statistical analysis was carried out of data derived from young persons' custody records during a two month period.
• A number of observational case studies of police interviews were carried out with a view to further understanding young persons' experiences at the police interview and their understanding of their rights.
• Semi-structured interviews were carried out with experienced police officers, solicitors and social workers. Meetings were held with groups who have an interest in children's affairs. Two focus groups were held with young people.
  

Main Findings

• Theft (25%) and criminal damage (16%) were the most common offences for which young persons were arrested. 38% of young persons (significantly more boys than girls) were arrested in respect of serious offences. Over 90% were detained for the purposes of obtaining evidence by questioning/to secure and preserve evidence.
• 55% were released within 3 hours of arriving at the station; 25% spent between 3 and 6 hours at the station; and 7% between 12 and 24 hours. The age and gender of the young person, the seriousness of the offence and the location of the custody suite all appeared to impact on the length of time spent in custody.
• Custody staff and solicitors expressed concern about Social Service provision for young persons who did not have family members prepared or able to take responsibility for them.
• Most young people were held in a cell (42%) or a juvenile detention room (37%). 15% were kept in an interview room. Only 7% were handcuffed when they arrived at the station. At the end of the detention period 60% were released to be reported and only 15% were charged. This appeared to be affected by age and gender, the seriousness of the offence and the location of the custody suite.
• 78% of young persons were searched while at the police station - more boys than girls and more older than younger children were searched. 52% had their photograph taken while in custody - more boys than girls and more young people arrested in connection with serious offences. 70% were fingerprinted at the station - more older than younger children, more boys than girls and more of those arrested in connection with serious offences. 36% had a sample taken for DNA testing - a lot more of whom were arrested in connection with serious offences.
• Custody staff cited securing the prompt attendance of an appropriate adult as a major problem, which often resulted in unnecessary time in custody. Some reported that it was more difficult to get a social worker to act as an appropriate adult than family members. Records did show that family members attended the station more promptly than other appropriate adults. 48% had an appropriate adult in attendance within one hour of arriving at the station; 25% within 2 hours; just over 10% waited 2-3 hours and 16% waited over 3 hours.
• Most young people (over two thirds) had a parent acting as an appropriate adult, followed by social worker, solicitor and a friend.
• Two broad types of social workers were generally called upon to act as appropriate adults - those from the duty social work team and those with a pre-existing relationship with the young person. Custody staff and solicitors themselves had mixed views on solicitors being used.
• Mixed opinions existed among custody staff and solicitors on whether appropriate adults had a good understanding of their role. It was observed that social workers generally had a better understanding.
• Social workers questioned their ability to advise a young person in respect of requesting legal advice, while social workers and solicitors acting as appropriate adults were unsure about giving consent to the taking of photographs, fingerprints and other samples.
• The main benefit of the appropriate adult role was to reassure young persons and to keep them company while at the police station.
• Police and solicitors agreed that it was important for young people to have access to a solicitor in police custody. However, custody sergeants differed in their approaches to advising on the need for legal advice, while solicitors complained that not enough was done to explain the importance of legal advice.
• 46% of young persons requested legal advice at some stage, with this figure being affected by age, seriousness of the offence and time in custody. 41% of solicitors arrived within one hour.
• Almost all interviewing officers agreed that the caution was difficult to explain to young persons but felt that they could simplify it. There were mixed views among solicitors and appropriate adults on whether interviewing officers adequately explained the caution to young people.
• Understanding the caution was a somewhat confusing issue, with most of the young people saying they understood it, several admitting they did not and some saying they did but then not being able to explain it.
• There was some evidence to suggest that the strength of the evidence, the seriousness of the offence and the criminal history of the young person, influenced the decision to admit or deny an offence.
• 76% were interviewed only once and 18% were not interviewed at all in custody. 47% were interviewed for no more than 15 minutes in total, 21% for between 15 and 30 minutes and 15% for between 30 minutes and 2 hours. Complaints about the interview experience included that it was boring, intimidating or hard to understand.
• Most interviewing officers said they would approach an interview with a young person differently than they would with an adult. While the dominant interviewing style was simply to put allegations to a young person, other styles included an adversarial approach, a moralistic approach and an intelligence gathering approach.
• Through their advice and presence, solicitors could play a significant role in protecting young persons. Solicitors also adopted a range of approaches, with some intervening frequently and others not at all.
  

Conclusions/Recommendations

• Recommendations for detention include increased resource availability for Social Services to care for young people who no longer need to be detained, a more consistent policy for the detention arrangements of young persons prior to a court appearance and the implementation of a strategy for equity monitoring.
• Custody arrangements should include special youth custody suites in certain police stations, more hospitable interview rooms, greater consistency of practice in relation to the taking of photographs, fingerprints and DNA samples and consideration of the requirement of such samples to be destroyed if a young person is subsequently not cautioned or prosecuted and convicted.
• Social Services require greater funding to operate a more prompt and effective appropriate adult service. Appropriate adults ought to be advised of their role as soon as they arrive in police stations. Training for appropriate adults should attempt to ensure consistent practices within police stations.
• Recommendations regarding legal advice include consideration being given to amending the PACE code to require custody officers to advise young persons to seek the advice of a solicitor and to inform them of the availability of a duty solicitor.
• Recommendations are also given about young persons' understanding of their rights and cautions, including the written forms being understandable to young persons, a more consistent policy of issuing cautions, and changes to prevent inferences being drawn from a young person's silence.
• Recommendations for the police interview include training for interviewing officers, the requirement to inform the young person of the nature of the offence for which they are about to be questioned and a summary at the end of questioning of what has been said during the interview and what will happen after the interview.