Graphic: girls and crime

The number of crimes carried out by girls has risen sharply as the emergence of a “ladette” culture linked to underage drinking is blamed for a surge in violence.

Offences of criminal damage, public disorder, robbery and minor assaults carried out by females under 18 have all increased, figures released yesterday reveal.

Over the same period the number of crimes committed by boys fell slightly, although boys and young men are still responsible for the overwhelming bulk of youth offending.

Figures from the Youth Justice Board showed that crimes carried out by girls between the ages of 10 and 17 have risen by 25 per cent in three years, with violent attacks against people rising by 50 per cent.

Although some experts blamed the trend on the ladette culture and underage drinking, others said that the statistics reflected the fact that criminality by young girls is taken more seriously than in the past.

Young girls were responsible for more than 15,672 crimes of violence against the person last year plus a further 1,000 robberies – about 45 violent attacks a day.

The figures have helped to fuel the overall rise in offences committed by girls in England and Wales between 2003-04 and 2006-07.

Separate figures show a rise in the number of young girls committing crimes.

The number of girls convicted or cautioned in all courts in England and Wales has risen from 45,900 to 51,200 between 2000 and 2006. And the number convicted or cautioned for more serious offences rose from 25,700 to 32,000 over the same period.

Yesterday’s figures disclosed the growth of offending by young girls since 2003-04. Overall, girls committed 59,000 offences – up 12,000 on 2003-04. Girls were responsible for 1,022 robberies, 5,964 public order crimes, 5,748 criminal damage offences and 677 racially aggravated crimes last year. However, the largest number of offences committed by girls was 19,700 thefts.

The figures are for offences that resulted in a police warning or court sanction and appear to confirm a longer-term trend of increasing criminality among young girls.

The Youth Justice Board has ordered a study into offending by girls. Initial findings suggest that the increase in offences is partly because of a rise in the total number of girls of that age along with the growing involvement of police in incidents that in the past would have been dealt with informally in schools or by other figures of authority in the community, such as park keepers and sports assistants.

The findings also suggest that society is now taking offending by girls more seriously than it did in the past.

Elaine Arnull, a researcher at the London South Bank University, said that patterns of offending by girls under supervision in the criminal justice system are now similar to those of boys.

More than half of boys under supervision had been convicted of an offence of violence against the person and the figure for girls is now 42 per cent.

Dr Arnull, who is working on the study, said that the violent offending by girls was much less serious but there appeared to be signs that behaviour had changed.

Although the largest number of offences committed by girls remains theft and handling, Dr Arnull said that the bigger picture suggested changes linked to alcohol.

“Behaviour is changing,” she said. “It looks like there is a link between the use of alcohol and violence. We think that girls drinking regularly are more likely to be involved in violent offending. That is a change.”

Dr Arnull said that another reason for the increase in offences by girls is that society is taking them more seriously. She said: “It is not just that girls are going out and committing more offences. We think that the response to girls by agencies – schools, police, other people – has changed, so girls are possibly being prosecuted for offences they weren’t being prosecuted for before.

“It is fights between girls, principally – things like fights at school that the police weren’t called to in the past. Most offending by girls, especially violent offending, is of a very low level. It doesn’t mean it’s insignificant, but it is hair-pulling fights between girls.”

Rod Morgan, the former chairman of the Youth Justice Board, has said that police are increasingly being called in to deal with behaviour that only a few years ago would have been dealt with in schools or care homes.

He said that some teachers and care home workers had lost the confidence to deal with bad behaviour including minor acts of criminal damage, sometimes because they fear that parents will challenge them and even take legal action.

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