Where a young person has committed a first or second minor offence they may receive a final warning or reprimand instead of being dealt with by the courts.

Reprimands

A reprimand is a formal verbal warning given by a police officer to a young person who admits they are guilty of a minor first offence. Sometimes the young person and their family can be referred to the Youth Offending Team (YOT) to take part in a voluntary programme to help them address their offending behaviour or offer support to the family to prevent future offending.

Final warnings

A final warning may also be considered as an alternative to prosecution where the young person has not already passed the reprimand stage in the criminal justice system.

All young people who are being considered by the Police as being appropriate to receive a Final Warning for an offence, as an alternative to prosecution, will be granted Police bail to allow them the opportunity to engage with the YOT to address their behaviour. We will contact them and offer a programme of support to address any problems and hopefully prevent them from re-offending.

If the young person complies with the YOT then they are supported through the final warning process and helped to tackle their offending behaviour and reduce their likelihood of re-offending.

Reprimands and final warnings are not classed as convictions and are only given to young people who do not have a history of offending, have accepted responsibility for what they have done and are prepared to address their behaviour in conjunction with the Youth Offending Team if that is felt necessary by the Police.