Parents could face jail or have benefits docked if their child commits crime

Parents could face going to prison or having their benefits payments docked if their children commit crimes, a justice minister has said.

Jake Richards said the Government would put the onus on parents to do more to keep children out of trouble and that they would be ‘held to account’ if they did not.

He added that ‘the justice system should hold parents to account in a proportionate way for ensuring that they play their role in keeping communities safe’.
His comments come amid reports of parents sending their young children into shops to steal.

Footage captured by one shopkeeper in Dorset, Erdogan Yigitoglu, 52, shows children who appear to be as young as five wearing balaclavas while emptying shelves.

His rogue gallery of footage shows the young thieves helping themselves to piles of chocolate bars, disposable BBQs worth £120 and an array of other items.

But he said the most shocking discovery was very young kids being ‘masked up’ in balaclavas and taking items including fruit before returning to adults waiting outside.

On one occasion he said he even saw a woman pat a youngster on the head as if they were congratulating them on a successful haul.

He said: ‘The incident with the young children in balaclavas was particularly shocking for me.

‘What was even more disturbing was seeing the children take things from the shop and then go back to their mother, while she appeared to treat the situation as if it was normal, even smiling and patting the child on the head.

‘As a father myself, I found that extremely upsetting. I would never want children to grow up thinking that stealing is acceptable or something to be proud of.’

Meanwhile, the UK and Ireland are both reeling from fatal crashes involving young people driving dangerously seemingly for social media likes.

Nearly 30 people have been arrested in connection with the head-on collision which killed five young men and two police officers in Middlesbrough on August 22.

PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, were killed when their marked response vehicle was hit by a Volkswagen Passat heading the wrong way down the dual carriageway.

Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Cahill and Jakub Matusiak were in the Passat and were also killed in the crash.

Elsewhere, the first report from the inquiry into the Southport attack found Axel Rudakubana’s parents could have acted sooner to stop him killing three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop.

In an interview with the Times, Mr Richards said: ‘In my constituency, there’s a lot of problems with antisocial behaviour and young people causing problems in town centres.

‘And yes, when I knock on doors, people say we need more police. But they also say, “Well, what are the parents doing?”’

His comments indicate a continuation of plans from Sir Keir Starmer’s government where parents would face harsher consequences including heavier fines and prison sentences for their children’s crimes.

Ministers published a white paper in May calling for more parenting orders to be used. The proposals indicated they would be strengthened.

Meanwhile, the first report from the inquiry into the Southport attack found Axel Rudakubana’s parents could have acted sooner to stop him killing three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop.

Mr Richards said: ‘Parenting orders are going to make sure that parents are more involved in the process by which we try to turn around young offenders.

‘Yes, that will have some stick. It could be custodial, or docking benefits — ultimately it will be up to a judge. But we want them to be more involved and that comes with responsibilities as well.’

It comes as the Government are said to be considering lowering the mansion tax threshold to homes worth £1.5 million to help raise £10 billion in the upcoming Budget.

Former chancellor Rachel Reeves announced at last year’s budget that homes worth £2 million would have to pay an extra tax worth between £2,500 and £7,500 every year.

However, the Times reported more homes could be brought into its scope under plans being considered by John Healey for the Budget on October 28. It would double the number of homes affected by the tax.

A Treasury spokesperson said: ‘As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events, rather than routinely commenting on rumour, speculation or proposals.’