Young Offenders Act 1997

A child who is alleged to have committed an offence for which a conference may be held is entitled to be dealt with by holding a conference if the investigating official determines that the matter is not appropriate for a caution.

Despite subsection (1), the child is not entitled to be dealt with by holding a conference if, in the opinion of the specialist youth officer to whom the matter is referred, it is more appropriate to deal with it by commencing proceedings against the child or by giving a caution because it is not in the interests of justice for the matter to be dealt with by holding a conference.

In considering whether it is appropriate to deal with a matter by conference, a specialist youth officer is to consider the following—

the seriousness of the offence,

the degree of violence involved in the offence,

the harm caused to any victim,

the number and nature of any offences committed by the child and the number of times the child has been dealt with under this Act,

any other matter the official thinks appropriate in the circumstances.

A specialist youth officer must, not later than 14 days after receiving a referral under section 14 (4) or 21 (2), determine whether or not the child concerned is entitled to have the matter dealt with by holding a conference.

A child is not precluded from being dealt with by a conference merely because the child has previously committed offences or been dealt with under this Act in relation to other matters.

Despite any other provision of this section, it is not appropriate for a child to be dealt with by caution in relation to an offence if the child has been dealt with by caution on 3 or more occasions during the previous 3 years—

whether by or at the request of a police officer or specialist youth officer under section 29 or by a court under section 31, and

whether for offences of the same or of a different kind.