Supporting Young People to Challenge Guilty Pleas

Today (26.06.2024) our lawyers attended the Youth Justice Legal Centre seminar - Supporting Young People to Challenge Guilty Pleas. We thoroughly enjoyed the seminar and deemed it essential to develop our expertise in supporting young people in the criminal justice system. Here are some facts, that our lawyers took away from the day:

1. A lot of children plead guilty when they are not for various reasons ranging from trauma and anxiety - wanting the process to be over as quickly as possible or, to protect others due to being involved in exploitation such as sextortion. Lawyers must be aware of this and ready to identify the potential needs of the child and experiences they are going through in order to provide the best representation. 

2. Procedures in the Youth Court make it more difficult for a child to vacate their guilty plea at a later stage, and it is therefore crucial that your lawyers have a deep understanding of the options available to children and how important the initial stages of an investigation and court proceedings are, and how they differ greatly to proceedings involving adults. 

3. It is a widely perceived misconception that a no comment interview prevents a youth from dealing with a matter by way of an out of court disposal. It is possible to have a case diverted out of court, even where a no comment interview has been given. 

4. There are many reasons children and young people give no comment interviews at the police station, here are a few: 

- Lack of trust in the system 

- Lack of disclosure from the police

- The child has been exploited 

- Special educational needs 

- Do not understand the process and available defences 

5. In some instances, particularly where the above is identified it can be in the best interests of the child to say no comment, to preserve their interests moving forwards - this approach would not bar the child from disposal that could be offer at the investigation stage to be offered later on. 

7. It would be best practice for your lawyer, if any of the above points are identified, that they are set out in a prepared statement during the interview so the lawyers concerns are recorded. 

8. Lawyers are not trained as part of their general legal qualification on how to deal with youth trauma and specifically, how to take instructions from children or to identify red flags, such as exploitation. Being represented by lawyers who have undertaken additional training to their qualification is hugely beneficial to ensure the child receives the best outcome and right treatment throughout the justice system. 

9. Many children and young persons do not understand the impact of a guilty plea would have on their future and criminal record. They quite often reach adulthood and only then experience the difficulties caused by the decisions made when they were a youth. 

10. A Referral Order is recordable and will be disclosable upon a criminal record check, is therefore not necessarily the best outcome for a child. 

11. Due to the time it can take for a child to open up to their legal team the case can often be at court. If it is evident at this stage that they have educational needs or there are special points to be considered about the offending the child's legal team must seek to have these addressed. It may change the view of the prosecution, or it could divert the case back to the police for the matter to be resolved in a different way. 

12. Many children "just follow advice" - sadly it is true that many legal professionals may not understand the implications of pleading guilty and the avenues to be explored with a child before making decisions. Choosing the right lawyer is crucial to getting the correct advice. 

Where possible the justice system must not criminalise youths. Defence Lawyers, the courts and the prosecution service must work together to ensure the interests of the child are paramount to the life changing decisions being made. 

Our lawyers undertake training with the Youth Justice Legal Centre regularly to ensure we maintain an up to date knowledge of the procedures and practices in place when representing children. The Youth Justice Legal Centre is a centre of excellence for youth justice law and practitioners. We pride ourselves on ensuring that young people are appropriately represented and we understand how crucial it is for lawyers to differentiate between adult and youth proceedings. To speak with one of our lawyers about your case or your child's case, please contact us today on 0161 706 0602 or fill out our enquiry form here.