More girls
committing violent crime
Police say
more girls are committing the kinds of violent crimes that are usually
associated with boys.
"Seeing
females kicking people in the head when they're on the ground, and robbing
dairies and stuff is not what we traditionally expect to see," says
Inspector Dave Glossop.
In June
2017, Lily Pritchard-Davis was sentenced to four years and two months in
prison. Aged just 17, she had committed 28 crimes, including carjacking a
65-year-old woman in Panmure.
"Some
of the females that we're dealing with are brutal and very vicious, and are
committing crime exactly the same as males," says Inspector Glossop.
Ministry of
Justice statistics show girls consistently commit about 20 percent of youth
crimes that end up in court. However, in crimes intended to cause injury, that
figure rises to 30 percent - up by a third in two years.
Parenting
expert Ian Grant says parents need to take a different line to keep their daughters
on the straight and narrow.
"Boys
learned a few boundaries, which some of the girls haven't learned yet," he
says.
"A boy
just wants to hear from his dad 'you've got what it takes, mate, I'm glad
you're in my team', and that's respectful love. Girls need to hear 'you're
lovely, you're capable, you've got a good brain'.
Police say
many services are available to help teenage boys, but there's a gap in the
market to deal with female offenders and they need time to train people up