Jack Straw meets young offenders in Hackney

Justice Secretary Jack Straw with Mason Ley-Tighe Photo: © Jessica Mudditt

Justice Secretary Jack Straw visited Homerton today to meet young offenders taking part in a reparation programme run by Hackney Council’s Youth Offending Team.

Mr Straw said, “Young offenders must face up to the consequences of their crimes and make amends to the communities they have blighted if they are to be prevented from re-offending.

“I’ve seen today how Hackney’s new youth reparation programme gives local people a say in the delivery of tough and constructive punishments for young offenders that also benefit the wider community. This delivers justice at the most local level and puts law-abiding people at the heart of the justice system.

“This scheme helps young offenders to develop skills and it gets them off the streets. They develop direct skills, like wood-work and gardening, as well as self-confidence and self-respect, which is a precursor to respecting other people.”

He added, “I brought my kids up in central London and I know it’s hard.”

So far 25 young offenders from Hackney have completed over 700 hours of community reparation work as part of their court orders.

The team in Daubeney Road has set up a recycling and carpentry workshop, where young people learn to build tables, chairs and garden implements from old, good quality wooden pallets.

Mr Straw purchased a wooden garden rake for £10 and spoke to the young man who made it. All proceeds from sales are donated to local charities Help the Aged and Marie Curie.

Young offenders have also made poppies for the British Legion, as well as growing vegetables in the ‘community garden’ and working on their own (Grime etc) music projects.

Thirteen year old Mason Ley-Thighe received a community sentence for an attempted street robbery in the graveyard of St John-at-Hackney Church.

Over the last two weeks he has been involved in woodwork, music and gardening sessions.

Mason said, “It’s been fun so far and I hope that it has taught me a lesson not to be stupid again. My friends think what I did was stupid, especially my cousin – he’s 17 and he didn’t get a criminal record until a few months ago.”

Mason now hopes to learn more skills in music production.

Liz Dewsbury, Operational Manager of the Youth Offending Team at the Daubeney Road premises said, “We try to make the activities interesting but they are also somewhat labourious.

“In the winter these young people will be sent to Hackney Marshes to cut wood – we don’t stop when summer finishes.”

Mr Straw defended reparation as a legitimate part of the criminal justice system, and emphasised that if young people commit serious offences they will be placed in custody.

He said, “Making reparation is absolutely fundamental to getting crime levels down.

“We need to do whatever we can to turn these people away from crime before they graduate into worse crimes.

“We want to do more of this,” he added.

The Hackney Youth Offending Team received £700,000 from the Government to deliver its Youth Crime Action Plan.

Other initiatives supported by the funding include street-based teams working to prevent youth crime, and after-school police patrols to tackle anti-social behaviour around school closing time.

Across England and Wales, £100 million has been invested in the Youth Crime Action Plan over the last year and it has involved 6,500 young people in reparation schemes.