• rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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    21 days ago

    “child, 13” - a 13yo is a teenager, not a child.

    That article was a pain in the ass to read, horribly structured.

    What she did: “The court heard the girl was taken to the protest outside the Potters International Hotel, which houses asylum seekers, by a parent of a friend. Police body-worn video showed the teenager briefly bang and kick at a door of the hotel while voices could be heard telling her to stop.”

    Her sentence, a “12-month referral order”: “A referral order means you are required to attend a youth offender panel. The panel, you, your parents/carers and the victim (where appropriate) agree a contract aimed at repairing the harm that has been caused and addressing the causes of the offending behaviours.” (https://unlock.org.uk/advice/referral-order-18/)

    The conviction seems to be on permanent record, though, which does seem a bit much for this considering her age.

    • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      If the Wikipedia page on expungement is accurate there is some sort of process where it will get sealed from public view after a certain amount of time has passed.

      I do agree if this is a one off thing it shouldn’t haunt the rest of her life, especially given the fact that we’re talking about a thirteen year old who was a victim of (at best) extremely negligent caregiving.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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        21 days ago

        Good find! And yeah, the referral order sentence seems to be rather obviously aimed at rehabilitation instead of punishing, would be weird if that was combined with a lifelong criminal record that is visible to potential employers and the like.

          • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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            21 days ago

            At 13, they are both basically and literally teenagers, which comes with the legal consequence of being liable for criminal actions.

            • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
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              21 days ago

              I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure “teenager” is not a legal distinction for which liability is determined. You are either an adult or not, and judges have leeway to funnel non-adults through an alternative justice system not available to adults.

            • andrewta@lemmy.world
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              21 days ago

              I’ve never heard of that legal distinction, but I want you to go talk to any parent of a 13 year old and ask how they refer to a 13 year old and the vast majority will call those people a child and also call them a teenager. A ton of teachers will do the same thing.

              At age 19 you are still a teenager but in the eyes of the law many times you are considered an adult.

              So it is fair to call a 13 year old a child because basically they still are.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          21 days ago

          I have a 14-year-old.

          They’re children.

          And if my daughter did something like this last year, I would absolutely want her to face legal repercussions. I love her, but that doesn’t mean I would find this to be in any way acceptable behavior, and at a level beyond what I as a parent could do.

          I would, however, do my best to make sure she was put in a juvenile facility and given good mental healthcare.