Key Points

This report provides an overview of the workload provided by the Youth Justice Services (YJS) and Custodial Services (Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre, (JJC)) directorates within Youth Justice Agency (YJA) during 2024/25 and how it has changed over time. The principal findings are summarised below:

  • During 2024/25, there was a total of 1,078 YJA PSNI Referral Schemes for 1,045 children.

  • In 2024/25 males accounted for 67.6% of PSNI referral schemes.

  • In 2024/25 the highest number of CRN and Vaping schemes (see note below) was for children aged 15 (154) while those aged 14 accounted for the highest number of Sexting Schemes (78).

  • The number of YJA referrals to the YJS in 2024/25 was 1,402, a decrease of 8.1% from 2023/24 (1,525).

  • Diversionary referrals (53.5%; 750) accounted for the largest proportion of all YJA referrals in 2024/25, followed by Court Ordered (24.1%; 338) and Earlier Stage Diversions (13.3%; 187).

  • The number of individuals receiving YJA referrals in 2024/25 (768) decreased by 5.1% from the previous year (809).

  • The total number of individuals in custody decreased by 8.7% (104, 2023/24; 95, 2024/25).

  • As in previous years males accounted for the majority of YJA referrals (66.3%) and of children receiving YJA referrals (73.7%) and in custody (71.6%).

  • During 2024/25, 61.7% of YJA referrals and 62.8% of individuals receiving YJA referrals were aged 15 and over; the corresponding figure for children in custody was 81.1%.

  • In 2024/25, 37.9% of children in custody were Catholic; 31.6% were Protestant.

  • Of the children in custody during 2024/25, 48.4% were in care (38.9% were subject to a care order; 9.5% were voluntary accommodated).

  • In terms of local government district, Belfast had the highest number of YJA referrals (296) and the highest number of children receiving YJA referrals (191). Belfast had the highest number of admissions to custody (45) and Belfast also the highest number of children in custody (25). Regarding children in custody, Derry City and Strabane had the highest rate per 1,000 at 0.8.

  • In 2024/25, there was a total of 2,804 days of custody provided by the JJC, 20.7% lower than in 2023/24 (3,534) and 28.0% lower than in 2020/21 (3,896). Of these days 6.4% were for PACE, 80.2% for remand and 13.4% for sentence.

  • The total number of admissions to the JJC was 15.9% lower in 2024/25 (180) than in 2023/24 (214). Overall movements within the JJC, that is new admissions plus internal changes of status, such as PACE to Remand, was 12.0% lower in 2024/25 (265) than in the previous year (301).

  • Of the 1,108 statutory referrals during 2024/25, the highest proportion involved violence against the person (44.7%; 495).

Note: Due to the low numbers of Vaping Schemes, these have been combined with CRN Schemes for the purposes of this analysis.

Associated Tables

Detailed tables can be downloaded from the Youth Justice Statistics page in excel or ods format.

Youth Justice Services

About this chapter

This chapter provides an overview of YJA PSNI referral schemes by gender and age and the numbers of YJA referrals and individual children involved by gender, age, area of residence and offence category. A full breakdown of all the data is detailed in Data Tables. Information relating to religion is collected via a Section 75 Equality monitoring form. A response to the monitoring form is not compulsory and as a result the YJS figures are low; a breakdown by religion has therefore not been included.

YJA PSNI Referral Schemes

A Community Resolution Notice (CRN) can be issued to someone 10 years or over for a range of minor offences. The YJA receives CRN referrals from the Police and delivers educational sessions on topics such as drugs, alcohol, public order or criminal damage with new topic categories being added as appropriate. In addition, YJA delivers awareness raising sessions in relation to social media (sexting) and vaping (introduced in 2023/24). CRNs, sexting schemes and vaping schemes are collectively termed YJA PSNI Referral Schemes.

During 2024/25, there was a total of 1,078 YJA PSNI Referral Schemes for 1,045 children. The 1,078 YJA PSNI Referral Schemes comprised 768 CRNs, 287 Sexting Schemes and 23 Vaping Schemes (Figure 1; Table 1).

Figure 1: YJA PSNI Referral Schemes, 2024/25

CRN Referral Schemes

CRN referral schemes are delivered over a range of topics. In 2024/25 the most common CRN referral schemes were Offence Awareness (212, 27.6%), Drug and Alcohol Awareness (147, 19.1%) and Violence Awareness (146, 19.0%) (Figure 2; Table 2).

Figure 2: CRN referral schemes by topic, 2024/25

Gender

In 2024/25 males accounted for 67.6% of all YJA PSNI referral schemes while females accounted for 32.1% [Note 1]. The proportional distribution between males and females for Sexting Schemes (57.8% and 41.8% respectively) is much closer than that for CRN and Vaping Schemes (71.2% and 28.6%) [Note 2]. (Figure 3; Table 3).

Figure 3: YJA PSNI referral schemes by gender, 2024/25
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to 100% as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.
  2. Due to the low numbers of Vaping Schemes, these have been combined with CRN Schemes for the purposes of this analysis.

Age

In 2024/25 children aged 15 accounted for the highest number of CRN and Vaping Schemes (154; 19.5%) [Note 1] followed by those aged 17 and over (142; 18.0%) and those aged 14 (141; 17.8%). In 2024/25, children aged 14 accounted for the highest number of Sexting Schemes (78; 27.2%) followed by those aged 15 (50; 17.4%) and those aged 13 (49; 17.1%). Those aged 10 accounted for the lowest numbers for CRN and Vaping Schemes (13; 1.6%) and for the lowest numbers for Sexting Schemes (8; 2.8%) (Figures 4 and 5, Table 4).

Figure 4: Numbers of PSNI referral schemes by age, 2024/25
  1. Due to the low numbers of Vaping Schemes,these have been combined with CRN Schemes for the purposes of this analysis.
Figure 5: Percentage of PSNI referral schemes by age, 2024/25
  1. Due to the low numbers of Vaping Schemes,these have been combined with CRN Schemes for the purposes of this analysis.

YJA Referrals

This section provides information in relation to YJA referrals which include statutory (diversionary, court ordered and community order referrals), earlier stage diversion referrals, voluntary referrals and other referrals (PBNI, Bail Support and JJCOs).

Number of children referred and total referrals to YJS

During 2024/25, 768 individual children were referred to YJS, equating to 3.8 children in every 1,000 [note 1] and a decrease of 5.1% on 2023/24 (809). Total referrals to the YJS (1,402) decreased by 8.1% on the previous year (1,525) (Figure 6; Table 5).

Figure 6: Individual children referred and total referrals to YJS, 2020/21 to 2024/25.
  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. The number of children aged 10 to 17 in Northern Ireland on 30 June 2023 was 203,789. Population data source: 2023 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window).

Types of referral

In 2024/25, the proportion of diversionary referrals was 53.5%, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points since 2023/24 (55.7%). The proportion of court ordered referrals has ranged between 22.8% and 27.0% in the reporting period with the figure for 2024/25 being 24.1%. In 2024/25 the proportion of Earlier Stage Diversions was 13.3%, a decrease on the previous year (13.6%). The remaining referrals were made up of voluntary referrals (7.6%), community orders [note 1] (0.8%) and other referrals [note 2] (0.6%) (Figure 7; Table 6).

Figure 7: YJS referrals by type, 2020/21 to 2024/25

  1. Community order referrals include attendance centre orders, community responsibility orders and reparation orders.
  2. Other referrals include Juvenile Justice Centre orders where YJS are involved in supervising the community element, reducing offending programmes, bail support cases and work with probation.

Insight:
Earlier stage diversion provides support to children on the cusp of or involved in the early stages of offending to help divert them from the formal criminal justice system.

Of the 185 children who completed Earlier Stage Diversion referrals in 2023/24, less than one in five (18.4%) received a statutory referral to YJA within a year of completion.

Gender

In 2024/25 males accounted for 73.7% of individual children referred and 66.3% of referrals to the YJS, representing the lowest proportion in each category over the reporting period. In 2024/25 females accounted for 25.7% of children referred, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from 2023/24 (24.6%). The proportion of referrals attributable to females increased by 7.3 percentage points to 32.6% over the five year period (2020/21, 25.3%). (Figures 8 and 9; Table 7 and Table 8).

Figure 8: Gender breakdown [note 1] of individual children referred to YJS, 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to 100% as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.
Figure 9: Gender breakdown [note 1] of total referrals to YJS, 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to 100% as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.

Age - Individuals

During the financial year, the proportion of individual children referred in the 16 year old and 17 and over age brackets each fell to their lowest levels in the reporting period, to 18.1% and 25.3% respectively. In contrast, the proportion of individual children referred in all other age brackets increased, with the proportion for those in the 10 to 13 year old age bracket reaching its highest level in the reporting period at 22.4%. Overall, children aged 15 and over accounted for 62.8% of individual children referred during 2024/25 (Figure 10; Table 9).

Figure 10: Age breakdown of individual children referred to YJS 2020/21 to 2024/25

Age - Referrals

In 2024/25, referrals for children aged 10 to 13 years accounted for 21.3% of all referrals to YJS, an increase of 6.4 percentage points since 2020/21 (14.8%).

The proportion of referrals decreased in the 16 year old age bracket to 18.0% from 2023/24 (24.9%) while the proportions in each of the remaining age categories increased slightly with the biggest change being for those aged 14 years old (2024/25, 17.0%; 2023/24, 14.4%). During 2024/25, referrals for those aged 16 and over accounted for 42.9% of all referrals, a decrease from 2023/24 (47.7%) (Figure 11; Table 10).

Figure 11: Age breakdown of YJS referrals, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Individuals by area of residence

Figure 12 shows the number of individual children referred to YJS by local government district in 2024/25. Belfast had the highest rate of children referred at 5.6 per 1,000 population [note 1] aged 10 to 17. This was followed by Derry City and Strabane (4.0) and Causeway Coast and Glens and Newry, Mourne and Down with 3.9 each. The lowest rates seen were in Lisburn and Castlereagh (2.5) and Mid Ulster (2.4). Table 11 provides a breakdown of figures for the last five financial years.

Figure 12: Individual children referred to YJS by area of residence [note 2], 2024/25

figure 12 is a static map. See text immediately above or below for description of trends or download data using button below

  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. Population data source: 2023 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window).
  2. The information is based on each young person’s area of residence at the time of their first referral within the given year.

Referrals by area of residence

Table 1 shows the number of referrals by area for the last five years. Belfast had the largest number during 2024/25 (296, 21.1%). This was followed by Ards and North Down (191, 13.6%), Newry, Mourne and Down (158, 11.3%) and Derry City and Strabane (149, 10.6%). Mid and East Antrim had the lowest number of referrals (66, 4.7%) with the remaining districts ranging between 4.9% and 9.3% of referrals Table 12.

Table 1: Referrals by area of residence, 2020/21 to 2024/25
Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 113 108 90 58 69
Ards and North Down 110 128 155 237 191
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 101 152 147 148 130
Belfast 294 294 231 360 296
Causeway Coast and Glens 74 124 124 124 107
Derry City and Strabane 150 152 154 140 149
Fermanagh and Omagh 73 95 96 96 96
Lisburn and Castlereagh 80 55 89 91 70
Mid and East Antrim 107 147 104 76 66
Mid Ulster 57 73 52 44 68
Newry, Mourne and Down 117 106 118 151 158
Resident outside NI 0 1 1 0 0
Unassigned [note 1] 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1,276 1,435 1,361 1,525 1,402
  1. Accurate address information was unavailable for these cases.

Offence type

Of the 1,108 statutory referrals [note 1] during 2024/25, the highest proportion involved violence against the person (44.7%; 495), followed by criminal damage and arson (17.1%, 189), theft (14.4%; 159), public order (6.6%; 73) and drugs and fraud (each with 5.1%; 56). The remaining categories each came in at under 4.0% with robbery being the lowest (0.2%; 2) (Figure 13, Table 13).

Figure 13: Statutory referrals by offence type, 2024/25
  1. Statutory referrals includes Diversionary, Court Ordered, Community Orders and Other (JJCO, Probation and Bail).

Custodial Services

About this chapter

This chapter provides an overview of the gender, age, religion, looked after status and area of residence profile of individual children in custody, admissions to and total movements within the JJC. A full breakdown of all the data is detailed in Data Tables.

Admissions and changes of status (for example when a young person transfers from PACE to remand) within the JJC are collectively referred to as movements. These events constitute the daily workload of the centre. Discharges are not included as all admissions will ultimately result in a discharge.

Individuals, Admissions and Movements

Individual Children Admitted, Total Admissions and Total Movements within JJC

The number of individual children admitted to the JJC decreased by 8.7% to 95 in 2024/25 (104, 2023/24) and decreased by 12.0% over the five year period (108, 2020/21). The latest figure equates to 0.5 in every 1,000 [note 1] children aged 10-17 in Northern Ireland (Figure 14; Table 14).

Over the five year period, admissions to the JJC have ranged between 180 and 269. In 2024/25, the number of admissions to the JJC (180) decreased by 15.9% on the previous year (214). There were 265 movements within JJC in 2024/25, a decrease of 12.0% on 2023/24 (301).

Figure 14: Individual children admitted, total admissions and total movements within JJC, 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. The number of children aged 10 to 17 in Northern Ireland on 30 June 2023 was 203,789. Population data source: 2023 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window)

Admissions and movements by status

In 2024/25 there were 180 admissions to the JJC (Figure 15) - 150 (83.3%) related to PACE, 27 (15.0%) to remand and 3 (1.7%) to sentence admissions. Over the five year period, the number of admissions attributed to PACE has averaged around 176 while the proportion has increased from 77.0% in 2020/21 to 83.3% in 2024/25. The proportion of admissions attributed to remand is at its lowest level in the period, representing a decrease of 7.3 percentage points since 2020/21 (22.3%) (Figure 15; Table 15).

Figure 15: Admissions by status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Of the 265 movements within JJC in 2024/25, 150 (56.6%) related to PACE, 107 (40.4%) to remand and 8 (3.0%) were sentence movements.

The proportion of PACE movements has increased by 2.3 percentage points over the five year period (2020/21, 54.3%) while the proportions of both remand and sentence movements have reduced over the same period (2020/21, 42.5% and 3.1% respectively) (Figure 16; Table 16).

Figure 16: Movements by status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Gender

Males consistently accounted for the vast majority of individual children in custody, admissions to and movements within the JJC over the last five years (Figure 17; Tables 17-19) although the proportions in each category have decreased from 2023/24. In terms of individuals, children in the JJC in 2024/25 were predominantly male (71.6%), a decrease from 76.0% in 2023/24. The proportion of children in JJC who were female has increased from 20.4% in 2020/21 to 27.4% in 2024/25 (Table 17).

The proportions of admissions and total movements accounted for by males each decreased in 2024/25 to 68.3% (2023/24, 73.8% and 76.1% respectively) (Tables 18 and 19).

Figure 17: Gender breakdown [note 1] of individuals, admissions to and total movements within the JJC, 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to total number of individuals, admissions and total movements as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.

Age

There were 6 (6.3%) children in custody aged 10 to 13, a decrease of 3.3 percentage points from 2023/24 (9.6%) (Figure 18; Table 20). Children aged 14 accounted for 12.6% (12) of the 95 children in custody while the proportion of children in custody aged 15 increased from 12.5% in 2023/24 to 14.7% (14) in 2024/25.

In 2024/25, 63 (66.3%) of the children in custody were aged 16 and over, a decrease from 2023/24 (74, 71.2%). The proportion of 16 year old individuals in 2024/25 (28.4%) has decreased by more than 5 percentage points since 2023/24 (33.7%). The proportion of individual children aged 17 increased slightly in 2024/25 to 37.9% (2023/24, 37.5%). However, those aged 17 continue to account for the highest proportion of individual children in custody.

Figure 18: Age breakdown of individual children in custody, 2020/21 to 2024/25

The proportion of admissions for those aged 10-13 has decreased from 12.6% in 2023/24 to 8.3% in 2024/25. The proportion of admissions for those aged 14 is at its highest level in the five year period (17.2%), an increase of 5.7 percentage points from 11.5% in 2020/21.

Figure 19: Age breakdown of admissions to JJC, 2020/21 to 2024/25

The proportions of movements for those aged 10-13 decreased from 10.3% in 2023/24 to 7.9% in 2024/25. The proportion of movements for those aged 16 (26.0%) and those aged 17 (36.6%) also decreased in 2024/25 while the proportions for those aged 14 (17.4%) and those aged 15 (12.1%) increased. The proportion of movements attributed to those aged 15 and over fell to 74.7%, its lowest level in the reporting period.

Figure 20: Age breakdown of total movements within JJC, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Religion

In 2024/25, the proportion of children in custody who were Catholic decreased to 37.9%, it’s lowest level in the five year period and a decrease of 8.3 percentage points from 2023/24 (46.2%). The proportion of children in custody who were Protestant increased to 31.6% in 2024/25, it’s highest level in the reporting period. The proportion of children with no religious belief was 9.5%, 6.3% had other religious beliefs and the remaining 14.7% were unknown (Figure 21; Table 23).

Figure 21: Religion breakdown [note 1] of individuals involved with JJC, 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Unlike other demographic information this is self-reported by the child and can therefore not be validated.

In 2024/25, the proportion of admissions attributed to Catholic children decreased to its lowest level in the period (34.4%) while Protestant children accounted for 31.1% of admissions, an increase from 2023/24 (22.0%). Those with other religious beliefs accounted for 6.7% of admissions and those with no religious beliefs accounted for 6.1% of admissions. The religious backgrounds of the remaining 21.7% of admissions were unknown (Figure 22; Table 24).

Figure 22: Total admissions by religion [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Unlike other demographic information this is self-reported by the child and can therefore not be validated.

In 2024/25, the proportions of movements attributed to Catholic children (34.0%) decreased to its lowest level in the five year period. In contrast, the proportion of movements for Protestant children in 2024/25 was 31.3%, an increase from 2023/24 (22.3%). The proportion of movements for children with no religious beliefs decreased to 7.2%. Children with other religious beliefs and those whose religious beliefs were unknown accounted for 7.5% and 20.0% respectively of movements in 2024/25 (Figure 23; Table 25).

Figure 23: Movements by religion [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Unlike other demographic information this is self-reported by the child and can therefore not be validated.

Looked after status

Figure 24 shows the proportion of children in custody by their looked after status over the past five years. In 2024/25, 48.4% were in care (38.9% were subject to a care order and 9.5% were voluntary accommodated), representing the highest rate in the five year period. The proportion of children in custody who were not in care (51.6%) decreased on the previous year (56.7%) (Table 26).

Figure 24: Looked after status [note 1] of children in custody, 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Looked after status is determined based on the child’s first admission within the relevant financial year.

The proportion of admissions to the JJC involving children subject to care orders or in voluntary accommodation has decreased by 1.7 percentage points since 2023/24 (58.4%) to 56.7% in 2024/25. Similarly, the proportion of movements within the JJC attributed to looked after children decreased from 56.1% in 2023/24 to 53.6% in 2024/25 (Figures 25 and 26; Tables 27 and 28).

Figure 25: Admissions to JJC by looked after status [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Looked after status is determined based on the child’s first admission within the relevant financial year.
Figure 26: Total movements within JJC by looked after status [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25
  1. Looked after status is determined based on the child’s first admission within the relevant financial year.

Area of residence

Table 2 shows that Belfast consistently accounted for the largest number of children in custody over the five year period - 25 of 95 in 2024/25 (26.3%). This was followed by Derry City and Strabane (14, 14.7%) and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon and Lisburn and Castlereagh districts (9, 9.5% each). In 2024/25, Derry City and Strabane had the highest rate per 1,000 population (0.8) [note 1] followed by Belfast (0.7) (Table 29).

The largest number of admissions to and movements within JJC in 2024/25 came from the Belfast area (45 and 66 respectively) (Tables 30 and 31).

Table 2: Children in custody by area of residence and rate per 1,000 population [Note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25
Table 2a: Individuals in custody by area of residence
Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 4 5 5 5 3
Ards and North Down 11 7 11 8 6
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 8 18 13 13 9
Belfast 29 23 22 19 25
Causeway Coast and Glens 5 5 6 8 8
Derry City and Strabane 22 13 16 17 14
Fermanagh and Omagh 1 4 3 6 6
Lisburn and Castlereagh 7 5 4 5 9
Mid and East Antrim 3 4 2 3 2
Mid Ulster 1 7 7 6 0
Newry, Mourne and Down 13 10 13 9 8
Resident outside NI 3 4 8 0 5
Unassigned [Note 2] 1 1 0 0 0
Total 108 106 110 104 95
Table 2b: Rate of individuals in custody by area of residence per 1,000 population
Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2
Ards and North Down 0.7 0.4 0.7 0.5 0.4
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.4
Belfast 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7
Causeway Coast and Glens 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6
Derry City and Strabane 1.4 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.8
Fermanagh and Omagh 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.5
Lisburn and Castlereagh 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.6
Mid and East Antrim 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1
Mid Ulster 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.0
Newry, Mourne and Down 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.4
Total 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5
  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. Population data source: 2023 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window).
  2. Accurate address information was unavailable for these cases.

Average population

In 2024/25 the total average daily population in the JJC was 7.7 children, a decrease from 2023/24 (9.7).

A large number of children are admitted to the JJC under PACE and so will remain in the centre for, at most, a few days. As a result these admissions have very little impact on the average population with the largest percentage resulting from those children on remand (Figure 27, Table 32).

Figure 27: Average population by status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

There has been a general reduction in the JJC population over the last 5 years. The highest level recorded in 2024/25 was 14, with annual maximum figures ranging between 14 and 21 over the five year period. The minimum monthly population during 2024/25 was 3, matching the lowest monthly population seen in 2023/24 (Figure 28).

Figure 28: Maximum and minimum monthly population, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Number of custody days

As already mentioned children admitted to the JJC on PACE will typically reside in the centre for a short period of time, usually one or two days; those on remand or sentence will normally reside in the centre for longer periods of time.

When examining the transactional work of the JJC, movements related to PACE make up a high proportion of the workload (56.6% in 2024/25; see Figure 16). However, because these movements result in a short period of custody within the centre they account for a small proportion of the actual custody days. In contrast, sentence movements account for a much smaller proportion of the workload (3.0% in 2024/25) but contribute to a larger proportion of the custody days, as these movements bring with them a longer stay within the centre.

It should be noted that the minimum unit of measurement is one full day but many children are admitted for less than this duration. In these cases, this is counted as one custody day.

Figure 29 shows the number of custody days attributed to PACE, remand and sentence movements over the last five years. In 2024/25 there were 2,804 days of custody provided by the JJC, 179 for PACE, 2,249 for remand and 376 for sentence. The number of custody days overall has decreased by 28.0% in the five year period, and by 20.7% from 2023/24 (3,534 days). In the five year period, the proportion of days related to remand has decreased while the proportions for PACE and sentence has increased (Table 33).

Figure 29: Custody days by status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Custody conversion estimate for PACE admissions

To produce a custody conversion estimate we must first make the assumption that each admission to the JJC can only result in two outcomes: either the individual is released from the JJC without charge, or their status within custody will progress over time from PACE to remand to sentence. This implies that all children who receive a final disposal other than a custodial sentence should not enter custody.

Working on this assumption we can look at the number of PACE admissions compared to the number of PACE outcomes to create a conversion estimate, i.e. of all children admitted into the JJC on PACE how many are subsequently remanded by court or sentenced to custody? There are inherent problems with this approach; for example, some movements in the current year will relate to admissions which occurred in the previous year and admissions during the current year will have subsequent movements in the following year, so the estimate will only ever be an approximation of the “use” of the JJC.

Table 3 shows all PACE admissions in the period and all PACE to remand/sentence movements in the same period. These two figures can then be used to produce a PACE to remand/sentence conversion estimate. The PACE conversion rate increased from 47.2% (85) in 2023/34 to 53.3% (80) in 2024/25, representing a decrease in the percentage of children admitted to the JJC on PACE having been released without having been remanded by court or sentenced to custody.

Table 3: Custody conversion estimate, 2020/21 to 2024/25
Financial Year PACE Admissions PACE to Remand/Sentence Conversion Rate (%)
2020/21 207 102 49.3
2021/22 165 74 44.8
2022/23 176 76 43.2
2023/24 180 85 47.2
2024/25 150 80 53.3

Definitions

CUSTODY

Children may be held in the Juvenile Justice Centre either on:

• PACE - These children are held under the Police and Criminal Evidence Order 1989 until they can be questioned by police or until a court date becomes available.

• Remand – These children are remanded in custody either awaiting trial or sentence.

• Sentence – These children are held in custody as a result of a sentence of criminal court. Persons committed in default of a payment of a fine are normally included in this group. The majority of children sentenced to the Juvenile Justice Centre will be given a Juvenile Justice Centre Order (JJCO).

Bail Support

The Youth Justice Agency provides Bail Support services to children. This option is offered as an alternative to remand in custody, which means that the court can consider bail, even where there are ‘substantial grounds’ for refusal.

Fine Default

On occasion, a fine can be seen by the courts as an appropriate disposal for some offences. If the individual fails to pay the fine this can result in them being admitted to custody for a short period of time (usually three or four days). Whilst this is not a common disposal for children there have been a small number over recent years sentenced to the Juvenile Justice Centre for fine default.

Juvenile Justice Centre Order (JJCO)

This order was introduced on 31st January 1999 under the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, to replace the training school order. It is available for children and is for a period of six months unless the court specifies a longer period not exceeding two years. The period of detention is for one half of the period of the order, with the remainder comprising a period of close supervision in the community.

“YOC Order” (Sentence of Detention in the Young Offenders Centre)

This disposal was introduced on 12th December 1968 as part of the Treatment of Offenders Act (Northern Ireland) 1968. It is available for those over 16 but under 21 years of age, who were convicted of an offence that would normally attract a custodial sentence if the individual was over 21 years of age.

Since 1st November 2012 the Justice Minister has given an undertaking that no young person under 18 years of age will be held anywhere other than the Juvenile Justice Centre. As a result the sentence statistics in this bulletin include children sentenced to Juvenile Justice Centre Orders, YOC Orders and fine default.

NON-CUSTODIAL DISPOSALS SUPERVISED BY YOUTH JUSTICE SERVICES

Attendance Centre Order (ACO)

Requires an offender, aged under 18, to attend a designated attendance centre and undertake a structured programme of activities. The order should not be less than 12 hours and no more than 24 hours. The times at which the offender attends the centre should avoid interference, so far as practicable, with school hours or working hours.

Community Resolution Notices (CRNs)

A community resolution notice is an alternative way of dealing with less serious crimes, allowing PSNI officers to use their professional judgement when dealing with offences such as low level Public Disorder, Criminal Damage, Theft, minor assaults, and minor drug related offences. CRNs allow victims a quick resolution to the harm caused to them whilst giving those who commit the offence support to avoid further offending and the opportunity to repair the harm caused by their behaviour, without attracting a criminal record.

Community Responsibility Order (CRO)

A form of community service which may be imposed on a child, currently under the age of 18, and combines a specified number of hours to be spent on practical activities and instruction on citizenship. The aggregate number of hours specified in the order must not be less than 20 and not more than 40. In addition, the number of hours spent on instruction in citizenship must not be less than one half of the aggregate number of hours in the order.

Diversionary Youth Conference (DYC)

The PPS decides whether or not to refer a young person to a diversionary conference. These conferences however can only take place where the offender has admitted the offence. A diversionary conference is a meeting or a series of meetings held to consider how a young person should be dealt with for an offence. A conference plan will be produced, which will be presented to the prosecutor for their approval. If the prosecutor accepts the plan, the young person must comply. However, if the young person fails to comply or the prosecutor doesn’t accept the plan, then the prosecutor can refer the case to court.

Reparation Order (RO)

Requires the offender to make reparation either to the victim of the offence or some other person affected by it, or to the community at large. The order may currently be made only where the offender is under the age of 18 years. An order must not require the offender to make reparation for more than 24 hours or to make reparation to any person without their consent. Forms which reparation might take could be, for example, repairing property which has been damaged or removing graffiti.

Youth Conference Order (YCO)

Youth conferencing aims to balance the needs of the victim and the young offender by agreeing plans of action which satisfy the victim and create opportunities for the young person to make amends and stop committing crime. A referral to YJS can be made either by diversion via the PPS, or at court at the point of sentencing. In either case the child must admit the offence and be willing to take part in the conference. The conference agrees a plan for the child to complete comprising of various elements relevant to the child, the impact of the offence and their offending behaviour. The period of the plan must not be more than one year. A plan resulting from a court-ordered conference, subsequently agreed by the court, will form the basis of a Youth Conference Order.

Youth Engagement Clinics (YEC)

Youth engagement is a tripartite initiative involving PSNI, PPS and YJA which was piloted in 2012/13 and is now fully implemented and operational across Northern Ireland. This intervention aims to keep children who have offended away from the formal Court environment, whilst encouraging them to take responsibility for their behaviour and to take up whatever support is seen as necessary: to help prevent further offending behaviour and harm. Youth engagement clinics are hosted by YJA and delivered jointly, with Police Youth Diversion Officers. Youth engagement clinics can result in a number of diversionary disposals including informed warnings and restorative cautions (both PSNI led) and diversionary youth conferences, which are taken forward by YJA.

Technical Notes

Area Statistics

Area statistics in this publication have been based on the young person’s home address postcode at time of admission to the JJC or referral to YJS. If this information is unavailable then, where possible, the most recent home address postcode information held for the individual has been used.

It should also be noted that areas which contain care homes will have a greater concentration of referrals as children in care will have these addresses recorded as their permanent place of residence at the time of referral.

Data Source

The primary data source for this report is the YJA’s case management system, used for the day to day management of cases supervised by the Agency, both within a custodial and community setting.

Data quality and validation

Following guidance provided by the Office for National Statistics on the Quality Assessment of Administrative Data, information pertaining to data quality and validation is continually assessed. A number of accuracy, quality assurance/ validation procedures have been conducted upon the dataset used to compile this data series, to ensure the data extracted are accurate, complete and fit for the statistical purposes for which they are to be used. Both automated and manual checks have been carried out at individual case level and data corrected, where possible, to ensure that key fields are complete and logical and a general check of the data as a whole suggests no other anomalies. Full details of the data quality checks and processes that are in place are documented in the Quality Assurance of Administrative Data (QAAD) document on the DoJ website.

Within the 2017/18 YJS dataset, there was an increase in the number of records where religion had not been recorded. Due to quality concerns related to the missing values, information by religion was removed from 2017/18 onwards. This is under continuing annual review.

Statistical coverage

The statistics in this publication are based on the number of admissions to, and status changes, within JJC and the number of YJS referrals over a five year period (from the financial year 2020/21 to 2024/25). Tables with data from earlier years (from financial year 2008/09 to 2024/25) are available within the Microsoft Excel and OpenDocument Spreadsheet format documents available at www.justice-ni.gov.uk.

Analysis and Presentation of Statistics

The data used in this report is extracted using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and is validated, maintained and analysed using a combination of Microsoft SQL Server Management and RStudio.

For ease of use, figures are given as whole numbers throughout the text, tables and charts. Percentages and population rates are rounded to one decimal place. Whilst tables of information have been included in Data Tables, the tables are also published alongside this bulletin in Microsoft Excel and OpenDocument Spreadsheet format, for ease of use.

About YJA

Context

The Youth Justice Agency (YJA) aims to make communities safer by helping children to stop offending. Working with 10-17 year olds who have offended or are at serious risk of offending, it provides a range of services, often delivered in partnership with others, to help the children address their offending behaviour, divert them from crime, assist their integration into the community and to meet the needs of victims. These front-line services are delivered by the Youth Justice Services (YJS) and Custodial Services (Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre,(JJC)) directorates within YJA.

Youth Justice Services (YJS)

The YJS directorate provides a range of services for children, their families, communities and victims via five area teams spread across the province – Belfast, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western. As an established part of the Northern Ireland criminal justice system, YJS provides a number of disposals to facilitate YJA’s restorative approach focusing on the needs of children and victims. While the most frequently used disposal is youth conferencing, other disposals including community orders are also provided. An overview of the different disposals used are detailed in the Definitions section.

YJS also carries out earlier stage diversion work with children on the cusp of or involved in the early stages of offending to help divert them from the formal justice system. An element of this work is carried out via a variety of awareness raising schemes with children referred by PSNI (YJA PSNI Referral Schemes). Referrals may be made when a young person receives a Community Resolution Notice (CRN) for an applicable offence (e.g. drugs, alcohol, public order, criminal damage) or when PSNI Youth Diversion Officers identify children who may benefit from awareness sessions relating to social media (sexting) or vaping (introduced in 2023/24).

CRNs can be issued to anyone aged 10 years or over for a range of minor offences. Following a CRN referral, YJA delivers educational sessions on drugs, alcohol, public order, criminal damage etc. with new topic categories being added as appropriate.

This report also provides an overview of the workload of YJS and the children involved, both through the PSNI Referral Schemes and YJA Referrals. It focuses specifically on the numbers of schemes and YJA referrals, each of which is analysed by age and gender, and the individuals receiving YJA referrals in terms of age, gender, area of residence and offence type. If a child requires further support to desist from offending following completion of a PSNI Referral Scheme, a referral to the Children’s Diversion Forum may be considered which could lead to an Earlier Stage Diversion case referral to YJA. Children accessing support as the result of a Children’s Diversion Forum will be counted in the YJA Referral figures. To avoid the risk of double counting PSNI Referral Schemes and YJA Referrals are reported separately within this publication.

Custodial Services

Woodlands JJC provides custodial facilities, offering a wide range of services and support to help prevent children from re-offending. It can accommodate up to 48 young boys and girls aged between 10 and 17 placed in custody.

The children in the JJC may be held on either a Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Order, remand or when sentenced. Information is recorded on each admission, each change of status (for example, when a young person transfers from PACE to remand) and each discharge.

An overview of the workload of custodial services is provided, specifically the total number of admissions to and changes of status within the JJC (for example when a child transfers from PACE to remand) and individuals in custody. Admissions plus changes of status within the JJC constitute the daily workload of the centre and are collectively referred to as movements. Discharges are not included as all admissions will ultimately result in a discharge.

About this report

The following methodological considerations should be taken into account when reading this report -

• The YJS statistics in this report relate specifically to referrals received from the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) and the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS). These figures do not reflect the number of plans/orders made by PPS/NICTS as children may withdraw their consent and receive another disposal. In addition, an agreement can be reached at the conference for no further action to be taken against the young person i.e. a plan is not required. We also receive voluntary referrals which are reported in the YJS section of this report.

• In terms of individual involvement with the YJA, a child is counted on their first involvement with each individual work area: YJA PSNI referral schemes; YJA referrals; and custody, within the given year. Each child therefore will only be counted once within each of the three work areas. For example, a child who has been in contact with both JJC and YJS in 2024/25 will be counted once in the JJC statistics and once in the YJS statistics for 2024/25. Similarly, a child who has been the subject of a PSNI referral scheme and has also received a YJA referral will be counted in each set of statistics.

• Furthermore, individual children involved with JJC are counted on their first movement during each financial year; therefore a child will only be counted once within a given financial year but could be counted within more than one financial year. Admissions is the total number of times children have been admitted to the JJC during each financial year as some children may be admitted to custody on more than one occasion. Movements constitutes admissions plus any changes of status within JJC.

• The primary data source for this report is the YJA’s case management system, used for the day to day management of cases supervised by the Agency, both within a custodial and community setting.

• Information is based on data extracted after 1 July each year, for example the data for 2024/25 will be extracted after 1 July 2025.

• Statistics from youth engagement clinic referrals are not included in this report but are available in a separate report (Youth Engagement Statistics for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window).

• Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in a new window) that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Data Tables

Table 1: YJA PSNI referral schemes, 2024/25

Number of PSNI Referral Schemes
Financial Year CRN Schemes Sexting Schemes Vaping Schemes Total Schemes
2024/25 768 287 23 1,078
Percentage of PSNI Referral Schemes
Financial Year CRN Schemes Sexting Schemes Vaping Schemes Total Schemes
2024/25 71.2 26.6 2.1 100.0

Table 2: CRN referral schemes by topic, 2024/25

CRN Scheme Number Percent
Offence Awareness 212 27.6
Drug and Alcohol Awareness 147 19.1
Violence Awareness 146 19.0
Theft/Dishonesty Awareness 86 11.2
Criminal Damage Awareness 84 10.9
Public Order Awareness 49 6.4
Making Better Choices 40 5.2
Citizenship 4 0.5
Total 768 100.0

Table 3: YJA PSNI referral schemes by gender, 2024/25

Number of schemes by gender
Scheme Type Male Female Total Schemes [Note 1]
CRN and Vaping Schemes [Note 2] 563 226 791
Sexting Schemes 166 120 287
Total 729 346 1,078
Percentage of referral schemes by gender
Scheme Type Male Female Total Schemes [Note 1]
CRN and Vaping Schemes [Note 2] 71.2 28.6 99.7
Sexting Schemes 57.8 41.8 99.7
Total 67.6 32.1 99.7
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to 100% as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.
  2. Due to the low numbers of Vaping Schemes, these have been combined with CRN Schemes for the purposes of this analysis.

Table 4: YJA PSNI referral schemes by age, 2024/25

Number of PSNI referrals schemes by age
Age CRN and Vaping Schemes [Note 1] Sexting Schemes Total Schemes
Age 10 13 8 21
Age 11 29 18 47
Age 12 72 44 116
Age 13 127 49 176
Age 14 141 78 219
Age 15 154 50 204
Age 16 113 30 143
Age 17+ 142 10 152
Total 791 287 1,078
Percentage of PSNI referrals schemes by age
Age CRN and Vaping Schemes [Note 1] Sexting Schemes Total Schemes
Age 10 1.6 2.8 1.9
Age 11 3.7 6.3 4.4
Age 12 9.1 15.3 10.8
Age 13 16.1 17.1 16.3
Age 14 17.8 27.2 20.3
Age 15 19.5 17.4 18.9
Age 16 14.3 10.5 13.3
Age 17+ 18.0 3.5 14.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
  1. Due to the low numbers of Vaping Schemes, these have been combined with CRN Schemes for the purposes of this analysis.

Table 5: Referrals to YJS, number of individual children involved and population comparison, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Financial Year Referrals To YJS Individual Children Involved NI Population Aged 10-17 [Note 1] Rate Per 1,000
2020/21 1,276 831 194,156 4.3
2021/22 1,435 904 197,423 4.6
2022/23 1,361 774 197,423 3.9
2023/24 1,525 809 201,115 4.0
2024/25 1,402 768 203,789 3.8
  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. Population data source: 2023 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window)

Table 6: YJS referrals by type, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Number of YJS referrals by type
Financial Year Diversionary Court Ordered Community Orders [Note 1] Earlier Stage Diversion Voluntary Other [Note 2]
Total Referral
2020/21 582 291 25 258 102 18 1,276
2021/22 650 366 20 301 85 13 1,435
2022/23 648 367 21 230 79 16 1,361
2023/24 850 367 12 207 82 7 1,525
2024/25 750 338 11 187 107 9 1,402
Percentage of YJS referrals by type
Financial Year Diversionary Court Ordered Community Orders [Note 1] Earlier Stage Diversion Voluntary Other [Note 2]
Total Referral
2020/21 45.6 22.8 2.0 20.2 8.0 1.4 100.0
2021/22 45.3 25.5 1.4 21.0 5.9 0.9 100.0
2022/23 47.6 27.0 1.5 16.9 5.8 1.2 100.0
2023/24 55.7 24.1 0.8 13.6 5.4 0.5 100.0
2024/25 53.5 24.1 0.8 13.3 7.6 0.6 100.0
  1. Community order referrals include attendance centre orders, community responsibility orders and reparation orders.
  2. Other referrals include Juvenile Justice Centre orders where YJS are involved in supervising the community element, reducing offending programme, bail support cases and work with probation.

Table 7: Individual children referred to YJS by gender, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Number of individual children referred by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Children [Note 1]
2020/21 646 182 831
2021/22 701 201 904
2022/23 592 175 774
2023/24 605 199 809
2024/25 566 197 768
Percentage of individual children referred by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Children [Note 1]
2020/21 77.7 21.9 99.6
2021/22 77.5 22.2 99.8
2022/23 76.5 22.6 99.1
2023/24 74.8 24.6 99.4
2024/25 73.7 25.7 99.3
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to total number of children as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.

Table 8: YJS referrals by gender, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Number of YJS referrals by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Referrals [Note 1]
2020/21 950 323 1,276
2021/22 1,083 350 1,435
2022/23 1,025 315 1,361
2023/24 1,096 412 1,525
2024/25 930 457 1,402
Percentage of YJS referrals by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Referrals [Note 1]
2020/21 74.5 25.3 99.8
2021/22 75.5 24.4 99.9
2022/23 75.3 23.1 98.5
2023/24 71.9 27.0 98.9
2024/25 66.3 32.6 98.9
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to total number of referrals as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.

Table 9: Individual children referred to YJS by age, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Number of Individual YJS referrals by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Referrals
2020/21 124 104 151 169 283 831
2021/22 154 135 167 172 276 904
2022/23 151 118 151 152 202 774
2023/24 168 119 139 172 211 809
2024/25 172 114 149 139 194 768
Percentage of Individual YJS referrals by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Referrals
2020/21 14.9 12.5 18.2 20.3 34.1 100.0
2021/22 17.0 14.9 18.5 19.0 30.5 100.0
2022/23 19.5 15.2 19.5 19.6 26.1 100.0
2023/24 20.8 14.7 17.2 21.3 26.1 100.0
2024/25 22.4 14.8 19.4 18.1 25.3 100.0

Table 10: YJS referrals by age, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Number of YJS referrals by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Referrals
2020/21 189 159 238 282 408 1,276
2021/22 208 168 280 305 474 1,435
2022/23 259 198 312 269 323 1,361
2023/24 321 219 257 380 348 1,525
2024/25 298 239 263 253 349 1,402
Percentage of YJS referrals by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Referrals
2020/21 14.8 12.5 18.7 22.1 32.0 100.0
2021/22 14.5 11.7 19.5 21.3 33.0 100.0
2022/23 19.0 14.5 22.9 19.8 23.7 100.0
2023/24 21.0 14.4 16.9 24.9 22.8 100.0
2024/25 21.3 17.0 18.8 18.0 24.9 100.0

Table 11: Individual children referred to YJS by area of residence and rate per 1,000 population [Note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 11a: Individual Referrals
Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 86 79 59 39 50
Ards and North Down 61 44 65 63 52
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 62 91 91 101 91
Belfast 206 205 160 219 191
Causeway Coast and Glens 57 83 67 62 57
Derry City and Strabane 85 77 62 72 67
Fermanagh and Omagh 46 68 63 57 45
Lisburn and Castlereagh 40 39 38 46 40
Mid and East Antrim 81 88 62 50 50
Mid Ulster 41 53 34 28 42
Newry, Mourne and Down 66 77 72 72 81
Resident outside NI 0 0 1 0 0
Unassigned [Note 2] 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Ireland 831 904 774 809 768
Table 11b: Rate of Referrals per 1,000 Population
Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 5.7 5.2 3.9 2.5 3.2
Ards and North Down 3.9 2.8 4.1 3.9 3.2
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 2.6 3.7 3.7 4.0 3.6
Belfast 6.4 6.3 4.9 6.5 5.6
Causeway Coast and Glens 4.0 5.8 4.7 4.3 3.9
Derry City and Strabane 5.3 4.7 3.8 4.3 4.0
Fermanagh and Omagh 3.7 5.4 5.0 4.4 3.5
Lisburn and Castlereagh 2.8 2.6 2.5 3.0 2.5
Mid and East Antrim 5.9 6.5 4.6 3.6 3.6
Mid Ulster 2.4 3.1 2.0 1.6 2.4
Newry, Mourne and Down 3.3 3.8 3.5 3.5 3.9
Northern Ireland 4.3 4.6 3.9 4.0 3.8
  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. Population data source: 2023 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window).
  2. Accurate address information was unavailable for these cases.

Table 12: Referrals to YJS by area of residence, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 113 108 90 58 69
Ards and North Down 110 128 155 237 191
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 101 152 147 148 130
Belfast 294 294 231 360 296
Causeway Coast and Glens 74 124 124 124 107
Derry City and Strabane 150 152 154 140 149
Fermanagh and Omagh 73 95 96 96 96
Lisburn and Castlereagh 80 55 89 91 70
Mid and East Antrim 107 147 104 76 66
Mid Ulster 57 73 52 44 68
Newry, Mourne and Down 117 106 118 151 158
Resident outside NI 0 1 1 0 0
Unassigned [Note 1] 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1,276 1,435 1,361 1,525 1,402
  1. Accurate address information was unavailable for these cases

Table 13: Statutory referrals [note 1] by offence group [note 2], 2024/25

Number of Statutory referrals by offence group
Offence Group Number Percent
VAP 495 44.7
Criminal Damage and Arson 189 17.1
Theft 159 14.4
Public Order 73 6.6
Drugs 56 5.1
Fraud 56 5.1
Misc - general 36 3.2
Possession of Weapons 21 1.9
Sexual 13 1.2
Burglary 8 0.7
Robbery 2 0.2
Total 1,108 100.0
  1. Statutory referrals includes Diversionary, Court Ordered, Community Orders and Other (JJCO, Probation and Bail).
  2. Offence Groups is a statistical grouping created so NI statistics are comparable.
  3. No offence recorded in a Bail Support – Court referral as offence already included.

Table 14: Admissions to and movements within JJC and children in custody, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Admissions to and movements within JJC and children in custody
Financial Year Admissions to Woodlands JJC Movements Within Woodlands JJC Individual Children Admitted NI Population Aged 10-17 Rate Per 1,000 [Note 1]
2020/21 269 381 108 194,156 0.6
2021/22 207 288 106 197,423 0.5
2022/23 224 314 110 197,423 0.6
2023/24 214 301 104 201,115 0.5
2024/25 180 265 95 203,789 0.5
  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. Population data source: 2023 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window).

Table 15: JJC admissions by status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 15a: Number of JJC Admissions
Financial Year PACE Remand Sentence Total Admissions
2020/21 207 60 2 269
2021/22 165 42 0 207
2022/23 176 45 3 224
2023/24 180 29 5 214
2024/25 150 27 3 180
Table 15b: Percentage of JJC Admissions
Financial Year PACE Remand Sentence Total Admissions
2020/21 77.0 22.3 0.7 100.0
2021/22 79.7 20.3 0.0 100.0
2022/23 78.6 20.1 1.3 100.0
2023/24 84.1 13.6 2.3 100.0
2024/25 83.3 15.0 1.7 100.0

Table 16: JJC Movements by status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 16a: Number of JJC Movements
Financial Year PACE Remand Sentence Total Admissions
2020/21 207 162 12 381
2021/22 165 116 7 288
2022/23 176 123 15 314
2023/24 180 114 7 301
2024/25 150 107 8 265
Table 16b: Percentage of JJC Movements
Financial Year PACE Remand Sentence Total Admissions
2020/21 54.3 42.5 3.1 100.0
2021/22 57.3 40.3 2.4 100.0
2022/23 56.1 39.2 4.8 100.0
2023/24 59.8 37.9 2.3 100.0
2024/25 56.6 40.4 3.0 100.0

Table 17: Individual children in custody by gender, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 17a: Number of individual children in custody by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Children [Note 1]
2020/21 86 22 108
2021/22 89 17 106
2022/23 90 18 110
2023/24 79 23 104
2024/25 68 26 95
Table 17b: Percentage of individual children in custody by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Children [Note 1]
2020/21 79.6 20.4 100.0
2021/22 84.0 16.0 100.0
2022/23 81.8 16.4 98.2
2023/24 76.0 22.1 98.1
2024/25 71.6 27.4 98.9
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to total number of children, admissions or movements as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.

Table 18: Admissions to JJC by gender, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 18a: Number of admissions to JJC by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Admissions [Note 1]
2020/21 214 55 269
2021/22 173 34 207
2022/23 186 31 224
2023/24 158 50 214
2024/25 123 53 180
Table 18b: Percentage of admissions to JJC by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Admissions [Note 1]
2020/21 79.6 20.4 100.0
2021/22 83.6 16.4 100.0
2022/23 83.0 13.8 96.9
2023/24 73.8 23.4 97.2
2024/25 68.3 29.4 97.8
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to total number of children, admissions or movements as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.

Table 19: Movements within JJC by gender, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 19a: Number of movements within JJC by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Movements [Note 1]
2020/21 307 74 381
2021/22 241 47 288
2022/23 262 42 314
2023/24 229 65 301
2024/25 181 76 265
Table 19b: Percentage of movements within JJC by gender
Financial Year Male Female Total Movements [Note 1]
2020/21 80.6 19.4 100.0
2021/22 83.7 16.3 100.0
2022/23 83.4 13.4 96.8
2023/24 76.1 21.6 97.7
2024/25 68.3 28.7 97.0
  1. Figures for each gender may not sum to total number of children, admissions or movements as providing gender is optional and for a small proportion is not available.

Table 20: Individual children in custody by age, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 20a: Number of children in custody by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Children
2020/21 9 10 22 29 38 108
2021/22 4 13 27 21 41 106
2022/23 13 6 22 26 43 110
2023/24 10 7 13 35 39 104
2024/25 6 12 14 27 36 95
Table 20b: Percentage of children in custody by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Children
2020/21 8.3 9.3 20.4 26.9 35.2 100.0
2021/22 3.8 12.3 25.5 19.8 38.7 100.0
2022/23 11.8 5.5 20.0 23.6 39.1 100.0
2023/24 9.6 6.7 12.5 33.7 37.5 100.0
2024/25 6.3 12.6 14.7 28.4 37.9 100.0

Table 21: Admissions to JJC by age, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 21a: Number of admissions to JJC by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Admissions
2020/21 25 31 45 82 86 269
2021/22 7 27 50 37 86 207
2022/23 37 13 45 46 83 224
2023/24 27 13 24 71 79 214
2024/25 15 31 21 52 61 180
Table 21b: Percentage of admissions to JJC by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Admissions
2020/21 9.3 11.5 16.7 30.5 32.0 100.0
2021/22 3.4 13.0 24.2 17.9 41.5 100.0
2022/23 16.5 5.8 20.1 20.5 37.1 100.0
2023/24 12.6 6.1 11.2 33.2 36.9 100.0
2024/25 8.3 17.2 11.7 28.9 33.9 100.0

Table 22: Movements within JJC by age, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 22a: Movements within JJC by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Movements
2020/21 32 43 64 113 129 381
2021/22 9 36 72 52 119 288
2022/23 52 15 64 68 115 314
2023/24 31 18 34 104 114 301
2024/25 21 46 32 69 97 265
Table 22b: Percentage of movements within JJC by age
Financial Year 10 to 13 14 15 16 17 and over Total Movements
2020/21 8.4 11.3 16.8 29.7 33.9 100.0
2021/22 3.1 12.5 25.0 18.1 41.3 100.0
2022/23 16.6 4.8 20.4 21.7 36.6 100.0
2023/24 10.3 6.0 11.3 34.6 37.9 100.0
2024/25 7.9 17.4 12.1 26.0 36.6 100.0

Table 23: Individual children in custody by religion [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 23a: Number of children in custody by religion
Financial Year Catholic Protestant Other No Religious Belief Unknown Total Children
2020/21 64 19 3 9 13 108
2021/22 55 21 7 10 13 106
2022/23 63 15 7 8 17 110
2023/24 48 25 6 16 9 104
2024/25 36 30 6 9 14 95
Table 23b: Percentage of children in custody by religion
Financial Year Catholic Protestant Other No Religious Belief Unknown Total Children
2020/21 59.3 17.6 2.8 8.3 12.0 100.0
2021/22 51.9 19.8 6.6 9.4 12.3 100.0
2022/23 57.3 13.6 6.4 7.3 15.5 100.0
2023/24 46.2 24.0 5.8 15.4 8.7 100.0
2024/25 37.9 31.6 6.3 9.5 14.7 100.0
  1. Unlike other demographic information this is self-reported by the child and can therefore not be validated.

Table 24: Admissions to JJC by religion [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 24a: Number of admissions to JJC by religion
Financial Year Catholic Protestant Other No Religious Belief Unknown Total Admissions
2020/21 178 41 3 20 27 269
2021/22 125 35 14 12 21 207
2022/23 115 46 20 21 22 224
2023/24 106 47 13 31 17 214
2024/25 62 56 12 11 39 180
Table 24b: Percentage of admissions to JJC by religion
Financial Year Catholic Protestant Other No Religious Belief Unknown Total Admissions
2020/21 66.2 15.2 1.1 7.4 10.0 100.0
2021/22 60.4 16.9 6.8 5.8 10.1 100.0
2022/23 51.3 20.5 8.9 9.4 9.8 100.0
2023/24 49.5 22.0 6.1 14.5 7.9 100.0
2024/25 34.4 31.1 6.7 6.1 21.7 100.0
  1. Unlike other demographic information this is self-reported by the child and can therefore not be validated.

Table 25: Movements within JJC by religion [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 25a: Number of movements within JJC by religion
Financial Year Catholic Protestant Other No Religious Belief Unknown Total Movements
2020/21 254 56 4 30 37 381
2021/22 171 47 21 16 33 288
2022/23 159 64 30 31 30 314
2023/24 150 67 20 44 20 301
2024/25 90 83 20 19 53 265
Table 25b: Percentage of movements within JJC by religion
Financial Year Catholic Protestant Other No Religious Belief Unknown Total Movements
2020/21 66.7 14.7 1.0 7.9 9.7 100.0
2021/22 59.4 16.3 7.3 5.6 11.5 100.0
2022/23 50.6 20.4 9.6 9.9 9.6 100.0
2023/24 49.8 22.3 6.6 14.6 6.6 100.0
2024/25 34.0 31.3 7.5 7.2 20.0 100.0
  1. Unlike other demographic information this is self-reported by the child and can therefore not be validated.

Table 26: Individual children in custody by looked after status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 26a: Number of children in custody by looked after status
Financial Year Subject to Care Order Voluntary Accommodated Not in Care Unknown Total Children
2020/21 27 11 70 0 108
2021/22 33 3 64 6 106
2022/23 36 10 64 0 110
2023/24 38 7 59 0 104
2024/25 37 9 49 0 95
Table 26b: Percentage of children in custody by looked after status
Financial Year Subject to Care Order Voluntary Accommodated Not in Care Unknown Total Children
2020/21 25.0 10.2 64.8 0.0 100.0
2021/22 31.1 2.8 60.4 5.7 100.0
2022/23 32.7 9.1 58.2 0.0 100.0
2023/24 36.5 6.7 56.7 0.0 100.0
2024/25 38.9 9.5 51.6 0.0 100.0
  1. Looked after status is determined based on the child’s first admission within the relevant financial year.

Table 27: Admissions to JJC by looked after status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 27a: Number of admissions to JJC by looked after status
Financial Year Subject to Care Order Voluntary Accommodated Not in Care Unknown Total Admissions
2020/21 83 42 144 0 269
2021/22 77 15 109 6 207
2022/23 95 18 110 1 224
2023/24 105 20 89 0 214
2024/25 82 20 78 0 180
Table 27b: Percentage of admissions to JJC by looked after status
Financial Year Subject to Care Order Voluntary Accommodated Not in Care Unknown Total Admissions
2020/21 30.9 15.6 53.5 0.0 100.0
2021/22 37.2 7.2 52.7 2.9 100.0
2022/23 42.4 8.0 49.1 0.4 100.0
2023/24 49.1 9.3 41.6 0.0 100.0
2024/25 45.6 11.1 43.3 0.0 100.0
  1. Looked after status is determined based on the child’s first admission within the relevant financial year.

Table 28: Movements within JJC by looked after status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 28a: Number of movements within JJC by looked after status
Financial Year Subject to Care Order Voluntary Accommodated Not in Care Unknown Total Movements
2020/21 116 50 215 0 381
2021/22 100 21 159 8 288
2022/23 129 25 159 1 314
2023/24 139 30 132 0 301
2024/25 115 27 123 0 265
Table 28b: Percentage of movements within JJC by looked after status
Financial Year Subject to Care Order Voluntary Accommodated Not in Care Unknown Total Movements
2020/21 30.4 13.1 56.4 0.0 100.0
2021/22 34.7 7.3 55.2 2.8 100.0
2022/23 41.1 8.0 50.6 0.3 100.0
2023/24 46.2 10.0 43.9 0.0 100.0
2024/25 43.4 10.2 46.4 0.0 100.0
  1. Looked after status is determined based on the child’s first admission within the relevant financial year.

Table 29: Individual children in custody by area of residence and rate per 1,000 population [note 1], 2020/21 to 2024/25

Table 29a: Individual children in custody
Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 4 5 5 5 3
Ards and North Down 11 7 11 8 6
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 8 18 13 13 9
Belfast 29 23 22 19 25
Causeway Coast and Glens 5 5 6 8 8
Derry City and Strabane 22 13 16 17 14
Fermanagh and Omagh 1 4 3 6 6
Lisburn and Castlereagh 7 5 4 5 9
Mid and East Antrim 3 4 2 3 2
Mid Ulster 1 7 7 6 0
Newry, Mourne and Down 13 10 13 9 8
Resident outside NI 3 4 8 0 5
Unassigned [Note 2] 1 1 0 0 0
Total 108 106 110 104 95
Table 29b: Rate of individuals in custody per 1,000 population
Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2
Ards and North Down 0.7 0.4 0.7 0.5 0.4
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.4
Belfast 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7
Causeway Coast and Glens 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6
Derry City and Strabane 1.4 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.8
Fermanagh and Omagh 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.5
Lisburn and Castlereagh 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.6
Mid and East Antrim 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1
Mid Ulster 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.0
Newry, Mourne and Down 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.4
Total 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5
  1. Rate per 1,000 population aged 10 to 17. Population data source: 2022 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland (opens in a new window)
  2. Accurate address information was unavailable for these cases.

Table 30: Admissions to JJC by area of residence, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 7 12 8 6 5
Ards and North Down 37 18 25 21 16
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 16 39 28 32 19
Belfast 83 50 34 28 45
Causeway Coast and Glens 7 7 14 14 12
Derry City and Strabane 57 25 44 34 31
Fermanagh and Omagh 3 4 4 13 11
Lisburn and Castlereagh 18 5 11 10 16
Mid and East Antrim 3 6 7 9 3
Mid Ulster 4 12 8 16 0
Newry, Mourne and Down 30 24 33 26 16
Resident outside NI 3 4 8 0 6
Unassigned [Note 1] 1 1 0 0 0
Northern Ireland 269 207 224 214 180
  1. Accurate address information was unavailable for these cases.

Table 31: Movements within JJC by area of residence, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Area 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Antrim and Newtownabbey 13 14 11 9 5
Ards and North Down 46 21 31 26 23
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 20 64 42 43 28
Belfast 117 71 54 39 66
Causeway Coast and Glens 10 11 21 18 18
Derry City and Strabane 88 30 52 51 49
Fermanagh and Omagh 3 4 4 18 14
Lisburn and Castlereagh 26 6 16 13 27
Mid and East Antrim 4 8 8 11 5
Mid Ulster 6 19 16 24 0
Newry, Mourne and Down 43 32 49 43 21
Resident outside NI 3 6 10 0 9
Unassigned [Note 1] 2 2 0 0 0
Northern Ireland 381 288 314 301 265
  1. Accurate address information was unavailable for these cases.

Table 32: Average population by status, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Financial Year PACE Remand Sentence Average Population
2020/21 0.6 9.2 0.8 10.7
2021/22 0.6 7.0 0.9 8.5
2022/23 0.6 9.0 1.0 10.5
2023/24 0.6 7.6 1.4 9.7
2024/25 0.5 6.2 1.0 7.7

Table 33: Custody days by status 2020/21 to 2024/25

Number of custody days by status
Financial Year PACE Remand Sentence Total Custody Days
2020/21 236 3,356 304 3,896
2021/22 233 2,543 344 3,120
2022/23 209 3,272 363 3,844
2023/24 219 2,790 525 3,534
2024/25 179 2,249 376 2,804
Percentage of custody days by status
Financial Year PACE Remand Sentence Total Custody Days
2020/21 6.1 86.1 7.8 100.0
2021/22 7.5 81.5 11.0 100.0
2022/23 5.4 85.1 9.4 100.0
2023/24 6.2 78.9 14.9 100.0
2024/25 6.4 80.2 13.4 100.0

Table 34: PACE to remand/sentence conversion estimate, 2020/21 to 2024/25

Financial Year PACE Admissions PACE to Remand/Sentence Conversion Rate (%)
2020/21 207 102 49.3
2021/22 165 74 44.8
2022/23 176 76 43.2
2023/24 180 85 47.2
2024/25 150 80 53.3

Contact

Produced by: Analytical Services Group, Department of Justice

Address: Statistics and Research Branch
Youth Justice Agency
Charles House
103-111 Donegall Street
Belfast BT1 2JF

Lead Statistician: T. Brown

Telephone: 028 9031 6448

Email:

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