Magistrates decisions on young offenders 'based on stereotypes'

The report suggested JPs tended to believe that they "knew best" rather than taking up recommendations set out by Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) and other professionals.

Magistrates tended to view reports written by youth teams on child offenders as biased towards the criminal, because they so rarely recommended jail, the study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council said.

Report author Dr Jo Phoenix, of Bath University, said: "The findings of this research suggest that decisions and recommendations are based on little more than stereotypes and that the engagement of young people is not necessarily in their own interests."

Most JPs told Dr Phoenix they did not find risk assessments produced by youth workers useful.

Instead, they preferred to look at an offender's criminal record, family background and make their own observations in a bid to predict how likely a youth was to reoffend.

Magistrates said they tended to use their own common sense and observations in court, claiming to be able to distinguish which "type" of lawbreaker each child was.

Young offenders interviewed for the report also admitted to not always telling the truth to the courts or YOTs because they feared harsher sentences.

The research was based on 80 interviews with young criminals and six months of observing court hearings.