Nearly nine out of 10 children held in custody on remand in London are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background, figures have revealed.
Statistics obtained under freedom of information requests by Transform Justice and the Howard League for Penal Reform show 87% of children on remand in the capital between July and September were from a BAME background, while 61% were black. Individuals held on remand are awaiting court hearings after being charged with an offence.
In England and Wales, the figures show the percentage of BAME children on remand in the same period had risen from 54% to 57%, while 33% were black. BAME people account for 15.5% of the population in England, according to 2016 figures.
David Lammy, the shadow justice secretary, who published a review into the treatment of and outcomes for BAME individuals in the criminal justice system in 2017, said: “The government’s failure to act on racial disproportionality across the justice system is resulting in unfair treatment for black, Asian and minority ethnic people.
“The government must now implement the Lammy Review recommendations it ignored and go further to ensure that all people – regardless of their racial background – are treated the same. The justice system must be fair for everyone.”
The Lammy Review found evidence of racial bias across the criminal justice system. He said at the time there was “greater disproportionality” in the number of black people in prisons in England and Wales than in the US.
The figures will add weight to accusations that black people are not treated equally by the justice system, which have been at the heart of global protests this summer.
In June, Boris Johnson was accused of misleading MPs in the House of Commons after the prime minister claimed 16 of Lammy’s 35 recommendations had been put in place, when in fact only six had been fully implemented.
Penelope Gibbs, director of Transform Justice, said: “This is the worst racial disparity in the criminal justice system and shows how discrimination perpetuates even with children who have not been convicted.”
Previous research found more than half of boys in young offender institutions) – prisons for boys aged 15 to 17 and young adult men aged 18 to 21 – identified as being from a black or minority ethnic background.
Judges and magistrates are to be given explicit reminders for the first time in sentencing guidelines of the disparity in punishments being imposed by the courts on white, Asian and black offenders.
The advice is included in formal directions circulated by the sentencing council to those on the bench about how they should assess penalties for firearm offences.
There have also been concerns raised about the lack of diversity within the judiciary. The upper echelons of the judicial hierarchy are overwhelmingly white.
The president of the supreme court, Lord Reed, said the appointment of a justice from a BAME background to the highest criminal appeal court in England and Wales should happen within the next six years.
Youth justice is a specific focus of the commission on race and ethnic disparity, announced by the prime minister in July. This is expected to report at the end of February.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are working across government to tackle the deep-rooted causes of BAME children’s over-representation in the criminal justice system. This includes reviewing the disproportionate use of remand, along with improving legal advice and developing schemes for early intervention.”