Calls for age of criminal responsibility to be raised (October 20, 2007)
As five boys begin two year sentences in a detention centre for manslaughter, calls are being made for the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales to be raised.
The boys were aged between 10 and 12 when they hurled stones at Ernest Norton as he played cricket with his son in south-east London, causing him to collapse and die.
Had they been in most other countries in western Europe, they would have been too young to be considered criminally responsible.
Click here to return to the News Archive page
|