Smaller, but tougher
A new (21 July 2025) report from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies “Smaller, but tougher: How the criminal justice system is processing young adults” examines the criminalisation of young adults and challenges “two-tier justice” claims. The report, by Liat Tuv, is based on detailed analysis of fifteen years of official data, and paints a worrying picture that challenges claims that a ‘two-tier justice system’ is favouring Black and minority populations at the expense of White people. Instead, the report suggests that young women are being inappropriately detained, while Black defendants are facing tougher penalties than White defendants.
The data
The analysis in the report is based predominantly on aggregate data published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice. The data were collected primarily for administrative purposes. The aggregate nature of the data limits possibilities for statistical analysis that could control for factors or explore causal links. Where possible, the briefing refers to recent studies that have been able to conduct more in-depth analyses based on richer datasets to provide better context for the findings.
The findings
Among the key findings of the report:
- The number of young adults in court for more serious offences has decreased by 65 per cent over the last 15 years. The number of young adults sent to prison for those offences has decreased by 60 per cent over that same time period. Meanwhile, the number of young adults remanded in custody at Crown Court has decreased by 33 per cent.
- While those numbers have declined, those young adults who are prosecuted are more likely to be remanded to prison awaiting trial; are less likely to get a community sentence; and are more likely to go to prison, and for longer. The average sentence length for young adults (for more serious offences) in 2010 was about 16 months. By 2024 it was about two years.
- Over half of the young women (aged 18-20) in prison were there on remand while under half of the young men (aged 18-20) in prison were there on remand. Indeed, while young men are more likely to be remanded and more likely to get a prison sentence, young women are more likely to be remanded for offences that did not ultimately lead to a prison sentence.
- Ethnic disparities have also sharpened over time as the number of White young adults prosecuted has decreased at a faster rate than for other groups.
The report also found that, while ethnic disparities appear to be increasing, ethnicity data recording has worsened over time so it is hard to see the full picture. ‘Unknown’ ethnicity accounted for about seven per cent of the young adults proceeded against in 2010 and rose to account for about 37 per cent in 2024. This echoes one of the conclusions of the Baroness Casey’s recent review of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, which also found that the recording of ethnicity data was poor.
The report argues that the unreliable ethnicity data makes it harder to work out the trends for the smaller, marginalised groups within the criminal justice system, particularly young Black women, whose experiences and outcomes are not captured in the general trends.
Summary
Fewer young adults are being sent to prison than a decade ago, but those who are imprisoned are getting much longer sentences. Young women are more likely to held in pre-trial detention for offences that do not ultimately lead to a prison sentence than young men. Meanwhile, White young adults appear to be getting more lenient sentences than their Black counterparts.
Thanks to Pascal Bernardon for kind permission to use the header image in this post which was previously published on Unsplash.
