Britain Vows Crackdown on Youth Crime

Britain’s two most senior government officials, speaking Sunday about the case of two 10-year-old boys charged with the wanton killing of a 2-year-old child near Liverpool, promised a new crackdown on juvenile criminals.

Prime Minister John Major, in a newspaper interview, called for a “public crusade” against lawlessness and argued that British society must take a less conciliatory attitude toward offenders.

“I would like the public to have a crusade against crime and change their attitude from being forgiving of crime to being considerate of the victim,” he said. “I feel strongly that society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less.”

Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced that his office is planning tough measures to lock up persistent juvenile offenders in the face of mounting public alarm.

The kidnaping and subsequent killing of James Bulger, age 2--who was badly beaten and thrown on railroad tracks--shocked Britain and is causing a national examination of an apparent new degree of mindless violence in the country, particularly cases involving juveniles. Bulger was kidnaped almost within sight of his mother 10 days ago while she shopped in a busy market in Bootle in Liverpool’s northern environs.

Two 10-year-old boys, not identified because of their ages, were charged Saturday with abducting and killing the child.

Increasingly, young boys have been involved in widespread crimes involving car theft, burglary and violence against others.

Traditionally in modern Britain, officials have tried to follow a permissive line in treating juvenile offenders, keeping them from being incarcerated as adult criminals. But the government’s attitude is hardening.

“I do think the courts should have powers to send really persistent, nasty little juvenile offenders away somewhere where they will be looked after better and where they will be educated,” Clarke said, speaking on national radio. “There is a gap in the law because the youth courts can’t sentence--to any secure form of treatment--children below the age of 15.”

The two boys charged with the Liverpool murder were said to be from broken families and each had a record of clashes with local authority.