UK- Court quashes detention of girl, 14, whose lie split family

6-23-2008 United Kingdom:

A 14-year-old girl who was sentenced to 18 months detention for falsely accusing her brother and his friend of indecently assaulting her when she was nine has had her sentence quashed by the appeal court, which said it "should never have been passed".

The appeal court last week substituted an 18-month supervision order on the girl, whose allegations split her family and sent her brother into care.

Experts said the tragic consequences of her lie highlight the drawbacks of the low age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales - lower, at 10, than in other European countries. In many, such a case would not have come into the criminal justice system but would have been dealt with through child welfare procedures.

The girl, named only as O, was 11 when she made allegations in 2005 of indecent assault by her brother G and his friend J, which she said had happened two years before, when she was nine, G was 11 and his friend J was 12. G and J were prosecuted and convicted in April 2006. They were sentenced to supervision and made to sign the sex offenders register. G's mother felt she could no longer have him in the family home and he spent two years in care.

In 2007, O's mother discovered her daughter had lied about other things, and questioned her allegations against G and J. She admitted she had lied because she was "fed up" about G's behaviour at home.

The police were called, but O changed her story again. However, she later confessed to her aunt that she had lied because she wanted G to be "told off" and had been scared of getting into trouble if she retracted.

She was charged with perverting the course of public justice and pleaded guilty. G and J both made statements for the court case. G described his miserable time in care and the bullying he had experienced, and J said he had "suffered greatly as a result of his conviction and consequent stigma", the appeal court judges said.

The judge who sentenced O to 18 months detention had made condemnatory remarks about what she had done. The appeal court judges agreed that her actions were "quite dreadful", but said "the effects of her behaviour could not have been imagined or understood by a child of her age", only 11, when she made the allegation. The sentence of detention should never have been passed, they added. She and her family had required support, rather than punishment.

Dr Hamish Cameron, an experienced expert witness in child cases, said: "Early investigation by child protection professionals could have brought out the truth sooner. This welfare approach would have avoided the terrible effects on the three children's lives and on their families."

Alison Fiddy, of the Children's Legal Centre, said: "The low age of criminal responsibility has repeatedly been criticised in the international community." ..News Source.. by Clare Dyer, legal editor