ALMOST half of youth offenders in Gwynedd reoffend within a year, according to a Ministry of Justice report.

From October 2015 to September 2016, 56 young offenders either left custody, received a non-custodial conviction or received a caution. Of those, 27 committed a proven reoffence within a year.

Each reoffender committed an average of 4.1 offences within this period.

The 56 young offenders, aged under 18, also had 233 previous convictions between them.

In England and Wales, 42 per cent of juvenile offenders committed another crime within a year, committing an average of 3.9 offences each.

The Ministry of Justice has cautioned that, since the figures only measure offences resulting in convictions or cautions, this could be a significant underestimate of the true level of reoffending.

Across England and Wales, juveniles are more likely to reoffend than adults.

In Gwynedd 34 per cent of 1,225 adult offenders reoffended over the same period. Nationally, 29 per cent of adults reoffended.

Youth justice practitioner on the Law Society criminal law committee, Greg Stewart, said that the way that juvenile crime is handled could be behind high youth reoffending rates.

According to Mr Stewart, who has been a practising defence lawyer for 25 years, children tend to only appear in court for more serious crimes, rather than minor misdemeanours.

He added: “As a result, those young people who are left still offending are the ‘kernel’ of offenders, often with complex and compound issues and serious problems at home and school.”

Deputy chair of the committee Penelope Gibbs said: “If we want to reduce the reoffending of children we need to try and keep them out of the formal criminal justice system and out of prison.

“We instead need to address the trauma, mental health problems and behavioural difficulties which lead to them committing crime in the first place.”

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