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Youth justice - final warningThe Final Warning was created by the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act as a way of dealing with offences committed by young people aged 10 to 17, provided that the offence is not so serious that it needs to go to court. It was introduced in an effort to encourage young people to take responsibility for their criminal actions and to keep them from committing further offences and it replaced the old system of police cautions for young people. A young person arrested for a further offence within two years will virtually always go to court.
The Final Warning:
Youth Justice Service (YJS) teams have been set up in every local authority to work with the police officers on Final Warnings to ensure that these aims are met and to prevent offending by children and young people. The Final Warning is given on the understanding that the Youth Justice Service will work with the young offender and their parent/guardian to complete a short programme of intervention. This will begin with an appointment for the young person and parent/guardian to see someone from the Youth Justice Service. This might be at their office, the family home or at a central location. This appointment will either be made at the police station immediately after the Final Warning has been given, or the Youth Justice Service will contact the family within ten working days of the warning being given. It is very important that this appointment is kept! If a problem should arise to prevent you from keeping the appointment, please contact the Youth Justice Service to rearrange another time.
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