THE number of youngsters from Barnsley entering the criminal justice system is on the rise - and the town is well above the national average.

Ministry of Justice figures show 50 juveniles aged between ten and 17 years and residing in Barnsley entered the criminal justice system in 2024 - up from 48 the year before, but down from 129 in 2014.

It means there were 215 young first-time offenders per 100,000 young people from the area, which is above the 138 per 100,000 average across England and Wales.

The figures also show that in Yorkshire and the Humber 826 juveniles entered the system.

This was down slightly from 852 the year before and also from 2,333 in 2014.

Meanwhile, there were 8,110 young first-time offenders in the two countries in 2024 - down slightly from 8,430 the year before, and a 62 per cent drop from 21,252 in 2014.

The figures also show the proportion of juveniles convicted after a first offence has increased significantly - 47 per cent of young first-time offenders received a conviction in 2024, which is a significant jump from 22 per cent a decade earlier.

Jon Yates, chief executive officer at the Youth Endowment Fund, warned that the youths who enter the criminal justice system for the first time do not always get the support they need after entering it.

He said: “If we want less crime, we need to give these children high-quality support - like mentoring or therapy.

“Going to court doesn’t always help with that.

“But in a recent YEF survey, nine in ten children who committed an act of violence said they didn’t receive any support at all.

“The danger with these figures is that they could give the impression everything’s improving - when in fact, many children who need help the most may still be getting nothing.”

Ross Little, trustee for The National Association for Youth Justice, also warned the figures remain ‘a product of decisions made by adults about how to treat children’ and may not reflect actual levels of youth crime.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “We are categorical that custody should be the last resort for children, reserved for those charged with the most serious offences.

“Frontline staff are working tirelessly to turn round the lives of young people in custody and we are committed to increasing the support these children need.”

Separate figures from the Home Office show South Yorkshire Police recorded 1,184 detentions in custody of children aged 17 and under in the year to March 2024 - down from 1,286 the year before.

Children may be detained on multiple occasions through the year.

The number of overnight detentions of children also decreased from 484 to 435.

Louise King, co-lead at Just for Kids Law and director at the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, said the charity is ‘very concerned’ about the increasing number of times children are detained in custody overnight.

“Children who come into contact with the criminal justice system are some of the most vulnerable in society, and spending long periods of time in a detention setting designed for adult suspects causes them fear, anxiety, and distress,” she added.