13 Feb 2009

More girls committing violent crime, says judge

7:13 pm on 13 February 2009

Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft says more needs to be done to address a noticeable increase in violence committed by young women.

In the past, Judge Becroft has spoken about a 'dangerous few' - a small group of hardened young offenders, mostly young men, who he has described as 'unexploded human time bombs'.

He says Youth Courts have reported a noticeable and concerning increase in young women appearing in court on violence offences.

Judge Becroft says most violent crime committed by boys is mindless and spontaneous and often fuelled by drugs or alcohol.

However violence committed by girls is planned, premeditated and targeted, he says.

"It's often two or three girls targeting another girl or an older woman or an older man and there's usually a reason, thought about, behind it."

Judge Becroft says probably no more than a few hundred girls are involved in violent crime, but no matter how many girls are involved, he says, the rise in violence committed at their hands is a worry.

Judge Becroft says it is difficult to give an exact number as there are no official statistics providing a breakdown between individual crimes and the gender of offenders.

He wants better statistics on who exactly Youth Courts are dealing with and says dealing with young female violent offenders is an area the whole youth justice system can improve on.

Police review

Police have launched a review into the extent of violent crime committed by young women.

National manager for youth services Superintendent Bill Harrison says officers throughout New Zealand have reported an increase in the number of young women coming to their attention, particularly for violence offences.

However, he says, at the moment, there are no specific statistics to support their anecdotes.

Mr Harrison says police are looking at their own figures, as well as literature, and hospital and accident compensation data, to find out the extent of the problem.

Police will report back with their findings later this year.