Latest news with #youngoffenders
BBC News
17-06-2025
- BBC News
'Boy's sentence for killing my dad is unanswerable'
The daughter of an 80-year-old man who died after being attacked in a park has called for tougher sentences for young Kohli died in hospital a day after being assaulted while walking his dog at Franklin Park in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, in September.A 15-year-old boy was sentenced to seven years in custody for manslaughter on 5 June, while a 13-year-old girl was given a three-year youth rehabilitation order and made subject to a six-month curfew for the same to BBC Breakfast, Susan Kohli called for guidelines on sentencing for young offenders to be changed. Ms Kohli said: "We are having so many incidents and crime reports that involve youngsters and they know that because they're youngsters, they're not going to serve the full weight of the law, because it's half an adult sentence."But you choose to do an adult crime, so why not be punished accordingly? Yes, the boy has been sentenced to seven years, on good behaviour three and a half years - he's served nine months of that already."He's going to be out in two years and nine months for taking my dad's life - it's just unanswerable."It needs to change, and I'm hoping we're able to try and get that change to hold the young offenders accountable for what they do." Mid Leicestershire MP Peter Bedford and Alberto Costa, MP for South Leicestershire, wrote to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) calling for the sentences to be AGO previously told the BBC it had received several requests to review the sentences given to the pair, who cannot be named due to their ages. If the Attorney General and Solicitor General agree the sentence appears unduly lenient, they can ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence. The AGO said it is still within the statutory 28-day period for referrals to the Court of Appeal. During the sentencing hearing on 5 June, prosecutor Harpreet Sandu KC said Mr Kohli was subjected to a "seven-and-a-half minute period of continuing aggression" at the boy racially abused Mr Kohli, attacked him and slapped him in the face with a slider shoe, while the girl encouraged the assault and laughed as she filmed it on her girl encouraged the assault and laughed as she filmed it on her phone. Both were convicted of manslaughter.
The Sun
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Jail violence falls when Love Island is on TV as lags are hooked, claim prison officers
PRISON officers say they are delighted Love Island is back on telly tonight — because warring inmates put their differences aside to follow the hit ITV dating show. Sources said wings on jails, and particularly young offender institutions, quieten down during the series as young lags are hooked on goings-on at the villa. One insider said you can 'hear a pin drop' at West London's Feltham prison for adult males and juveniles, Britain's most violent jail, at 9pm each night during the programme's run. There are fewer assaults on guards and fellow inmates as prisoners are glued to the show, hosted by Maya Jama. A source said: 'Attacks go down in the summer while Love Island is on. "Gangs put their differences aside. 'Officers are delighted when it starts, as it makes their lives easier and they get some respite. "Prisoners all discuss which girls they fancy — and which boys give them the hump.' The source added: 'The boys at Feltham aren't usually scared of punishments — the only thing that makes them behave is the fear of losing their TV during Love Island. 'They are all banged up by 9pm when it starts and it's the only time you will be able to hear a pin drop on a prison wing. 'Then there's a load of cheering and shouting when they find out which couple are being sent home — no lad wants to miss out on it.' Love Island 'reveals' first bombshell as Maya Jama gets special message from new Islander in surprise twist 1
Sky News
02-06-2025
- General
- Sky News
Personal trainer jailed over 'first date' chase that ended in crash involving five police cars
A personal trainer who admitted dangerous driving on a first date that ended in a police car pile-up has been sentenced to one year and two months in a young offenders' institution. Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, was taking a woman home in the early hours of 9 April when his driving triggered a car chase and eventual crash involving five police cars. Seven officers ended up in hospital, and one of their cars had its roof torn off in the dramatic collision that left debris strewn across the A1 near Newcastle. At Newcastle Crown Court in April, Azarbonyad admitted a series of driving offences, including driving without insurance several times after the crash, and failing to stop. The incident happened after police had tried to stop his powerful BMW in the Whickham area of Gateshead because they were concerned about how it was being driven. Azarbonyad and his female passenger were both uninjured. The woman, aged in her 20s, was arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting dangerous driving but was later told she would face no further action. However, Northumbria Police said she remains on bail on suspicion of drug possession. Defending, solicitor Jack Lovell had told the court the defendant, of Durham, had shown genuine remorse for his actions. Please refresh the page for the latest version.
CTV News
30-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Five youths charged after bear spray attack near Calgary Transit bus
Police vehicles at Calgary Police Service headquarters in Calgary on Thursday, April 9, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh) Five young offenders – three girls and two boys – have been charged in connection with an incident where bear spray was deployed near a Calgary Transit bus. Police said at 3:40 p.m. on Friday, May 23, two groups of youths got into a fight at a bus stop near Third Street and 61 Avenue S.W. near the Chinook CTrain station. Officials say one group attempted to get onto the bus, but the second group used bear spray near the door. The fumes affected the victims as well as the bus driver and passengers already on the bus. The suspects fled the scene but were arrested a short time later. Police say three girls, aged 14, 15 and 16, and two boys, aged 14 and 16, have been charged with four counts each of assault with a weapon. The 14-year-old girl was also charged with failure to comply with a release order. Additional charges against the 16-year-old boy include two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of an imitation weapon and failing to comply with a release order. None of the accused can be named due to the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers through any of the following methods:
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Young offenders at Midlands prison ‘dehumanised' by violence, say mothers
Young offenders at a troubled prison in the Midlands have been stabbed, 'dehumanised' and are 'becoming more violent' in order to survive, mothers of prisoners have told the Guardian. HMP Swinfen Hall, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, has seen a growing number of disturbances, including the intervention of riot officers. The prison officers union last month called for the Ministry of Justice to intervene and clear the place of weapons after several staff members were attacked. On Friday, an air ambulance was called to the prison for at least the third time this year – this time in response to an alleged stabbing of a prisoner. Three mothers of inmates have spoken out about conditions inside the prison for about 600 inmates, because of fears for the safety and sanity of their sons within the Category C prison. Rachel, 43, from Preston, said her 22-year-old son, who has been in Swinfen for two years, was slashed on his hand on Thursday by an inmate during the one hour in which he is allowed to leave his cell each day. 'Someone just produced a weapon and swiped at his hand,' she said. 'When my son asked why he had been slashed, the attacker said: 'I never liked you.' That is what Swinfen is like. They are free to dehumanise and degrade and stab each other. There are not enough guards and many don't have enough experience to handle the violence. 'My son says that so many prisoners have so many weapons that he prays every day that this isn't the day that he gets stabbed. But then it finally happened. 'I know, and he knows, that he deserves to be punished. He deserves to have his liberty taken away. But there is no rehabilitation and there is no protection and the threats are constant… They are locked in their cells for most of the day. And when they get out of the cells, there are drugs and knives everywhere. 'So he stays in his cell for 23 hours a day, in constant fear. Because he is in for a sex crime, he has items stolen, his clothes have been urinated upon, and his food is spat on. He is scared that he will be attacked in the shower and went weeks without having a wash because he was warned he would be attacked. 'He still hasn't had a sentencing plan and so can't get on any educational courses. I have asked if he could be sent to a prison in Lancashire so he can try to maintain close links with his dad and his siblings, but instead he is stuck surrounded by gangs stabbing each other,' she said. Marie, 50, from Warwick, whose 26-year-old son is serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for a violent assault, said he was becoming more violent inside the prison in order to survive. 'He hears the guards preparing to open his door and he gets ready, gets his trainers on, because he has to be instantly prepared to fight. Attacks happen that quickly. It has happened to him before. 'I don't want him out of jail. He is in there to learn a lesson. But he is not being rehabilitated. In fact, he is getting more violent because that's the only way he can survive.' Dawn, 58, whose 21-year-old son is autistic, has a borderline personality disorder and is serving a seven-year sentence, said she was given regular reports on stabbings, gang fights, beatings and attacks of prison officers witnessed by her son. 'He has lost three stones in weight in eight months and is losing his hair from the stress of being in such a violent environment. He has said he wants to take his own life and I'm worried he's going to get a knife in his back. The security at the prison is lax – you do not get properly searched on the way in. No wonder there are so many weapons and drugs.' Their claims come days after Shabana Mahmood, the lord chancellor, accepted many of the recommendations of a sentencing review, in the hope that it would ease overcrowding and reduce tensions in prisons in England and Wales. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'This government inherited a prison system in crisis. Our landmark sentencing reforms will reduce violence by making prisoners earn their release through good behaviour, while our £4.7bn investment will deliver 14,000 new prison places. 'We take the safety and wellbeing of staff and prisoners extremely seriously, and we don't hesitate to push for the strongest possible punishment for those who break the rules.'
