MCCONNELL ACCUSED OF YOUTH CRIME COP-OUT

THE First Minister unveiled a ten-point drive against teenage tearaways in
Scotland yesterday, billing the measures as the most comprehensive package
on youth crime in a generation.

Jack McConnell announced that new fast-track youth courts and specialist
children's hearings, aimed at dealing with about 800 persistent young
offenders, would be set up as part of the initiative.

The youth courts will be piloted on the same lines as the drug courts
introduced in Glasgow and Fife. They will deal with repeat offenders aged
16 and 17 who are causing concern in their communities and who cannot be
dealt with adequately by the children's hearing system.

The Executive has, however, shied away from introducing fines or jail for
parents of young offenders. Mr McConnell said parents could be sent to
prison under current laws but only for their own actions, such as failing
to attend children's hearings. The feasibility of introducing further
statutory obligations on parents will be investigated.

The package was derided by Opposition parties as toothless. David
McLetchie, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, said the First
Minister had "run up the white flag" to those in his Cabinet who wanted
action on youth crime to be watered down. "This is a disaster for the
law-abiding majority whose lives are made a misery by young lawbreakers,"
he said.Officials are working on the details of a pilot scheme for the
youth courts, and sheriffs will be given specialist training to help 16-
and 17-year-old persistent offenders to break their criminal habits.

Ministers appear to want more extensive use in the new courts of existing
penalties such as electronic tagging and community service orders. They are
also considering a Scotland-wide system of police warnings for errant
youngsters.

For offenders under 16 there will also be an antisocial behaviour contract
to encourage parents to exercise more control over their children.

Mr McConnell said youth crime was a serious issue and that the ministerial
group set up to study the issue had taken "swift and decisive action" in
drawing up the action plan.

While the level of youth crime has declined in Scotland, many MSPs
representing inner-city areas have pointed out that a hard core of
persistent offenders is terrorising some neighbourhoods. The special
ministerial group was charged with finding new ways of dealing with these
young people.

As well as the new courts, the group has proposed more high-visibility
policing and an assessment of the secure accommodation available for
teenagers of both sexes. There will be national standards for local
authorities, the criminal justice system and children's hearings to cover
reporting and follow-up of offenders.

John Swinney, the Scottish National Party leader, was scathing about the
package, saying that it contained "nothing more than a feasibility study, a
pilot scheme and yet another review".

The Executive clashed with the SNP over whether Westminster or Holyrood
should introduce legislation to close a legal loophole on sex offenders.

Ministers said that Holyrood should let Westminster close the loophole,
which allows sex offenders in England to avoid controls by fleeing to Scotland.

The debate followed the case of Steven Beech who moved to Aberdeen from
Cambridgeshire. The Police Reform Bill at Westminster aims to close the
loophole but the Scottish Parliament has to give its approval if it wants
Scotland to be covered.

Deputy Justice Minister Richard Simpson asked MSPs to pass a Sewel motion
on sex offender orders, saying: "We have a duty to do all we can to protect
individuals, families and communities." He said that if Scottish
Parliament measures came through before the UK measures and were not
"totally consistent", then sex offenders would be able to move across borders.

But SNP deputy justice spokesman Michael Matheson said it was unlikely the
Police Reform Bill would be passed before Westminster's summer recess.
Holyrood could act faster by introducing emergency legislation, as it had
done to reimpose tolls on the Erskine Bridge last year, he said.

MSPs agreed the Sewel motion without going to a recorded vote.