This guide deals with the impact of turning 18 on young people in the criminal justice system
yjlc.uk
Sentencing powers
The general rule is that sentencing powers are determined by a defendant’s age at the date of conviction.
Turning 18 before proceedings start
Only adult disposals will be available to the court, despite the defendant being sentenced for offences committed as a child.
Sentence must be conducted in accordance with the principles established in R v Ahmed and Ors.
The court must have regard to the maximum sentence that would have been available at the time of the defendant’s offending and, as its starting point, the court should take the sentence which would have been imposed if the defendant had been sentenced as a child.
Turning 18 during proceedings and before conviction
[Murder and attempted murder are obviously Crown Court matters but I've left the paragraph intact. Note that 17 year olds in Crown Court do not have automatic anonymity.
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Despite the general rule, the youth court may retain the sentence of a child who turns 18 before conviction if crossing the age threshold occurs during the proceedings. Alternatively, the court may exercise a discretionary power to remit sentence to the adult magistrates’ court.
Where a sentence is retained, the youth court may give a youth sentence. This means that a defendant may receive a Referral Order, Youth Rehabilitation Order or Detention and Training Order, despite the defendant turning 18 before conviction. However, this will often be met with resistance from the YOT, for whom supervision of the order will be complicated. Practitioners aiming for this outcome will need to liaise closely with the YOT and are likely to need to persuade them that exceptional circumstances apply.
Where a case is remitted to the adult magistrates’ court, the following rules apply:
There is no right of appeal against a decision to remit.
The youth court may rescind the remittal at any stage before sentence.
The youth court may not remit sentence for an indictable only offence.
The adult magistrates court may deal with the defendant in any way they would have dealt with an adult offender, and as a result may theoretically commit to the Crown Court for sentence. In R v Denny the Court of Appeal held that the court’s remittal of an 18 year old who was convicted of robbery in the youth was unlawful, because the adult magistrates’ court does not have the jurisdiction to deal with an adult indictable only offence. This may be a factor weighing against the exercise of the power.
Turning 18 between conviction and sentence
A defendant who turns 18 after conviction and before sentence will receive a youth sentence.