A person on bail must return to the police station or go to court at a particular time and on a particular day. It is a criminal offence to fail to attend the police station or court at the right date and time without a good reason.
The police1 or a court2 have the power to grant bail. Bail can be unconditional or conditional.
Bail applications for children are different from adults for three reasons:
- As there is a statutory right to bail for children, subject to statutory exceptions,3 the youth offending team (YOT) have a duty to provide information and bail support, as well as supervision packages created for the individual child.
- If bail is refused the child will be remanded to local authority accommodation unless the specific conditions are met to justify sending the child to youth detention accommodation (custody).4
- The police5 and the courts6 should always consider the child’s welfare. This means a child is more likely to get bail than an adult and the court will consider repeated bail applications.7
- 1. Section 37 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
- 2. Section 4 Bail Act 1976
- 3. Bail Act 1976 Schedule 1
- 4. Section 98 and 99 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Also see LASPO 2012: The New Remand Framework, Ministry of Justice Circular No. 2012/06
- 5. Section 11 Children Act 2004
- 6. Section 44 Children and Young Persons Act 1933
- 7. Paragraph 17, R (B) Brent Youth Court [2010] EWHC 1893 (Admin)