2022/25333 - Number of under-16's arrested for drug offences

REQUEST

I write under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act to request the number of under 16's who were arrested for drug offences (including possession and intent to supply) between 2014 and June 2022.

As part of this request, I would like the information to be broken down into the following;

1. i) The number of under 16's arrested for drug offences, broken down into years (e.g. 2014, 2015, 2016 etc) and a grand total;

1. ii) The number of under 16's arrested for drug offences, broken down into offence type (e.g. possession, intent to supply);

iii) Out of the grand total, how many under 16's were arrested for possession and supply of Class A substances, and how many under 16's were arrested for supply of Class A substances

1. iv) Out of the grand total, how many under 16's were arrested for possession and supply of Class C substances, and how many under 16's were arrested for supply of Class C substances;

1. v) The youngest under 16 to be arrested for drug possession, and the youngest under 16 to be arrested for supplying;

I would also like data on how many under 16's were arrested for possession and supply of Class B substances, and how many under 16's were arrested for supply of Class B substances within said time frame.

RESPONSE

The table below provides the breakdown by year for the number of under 16’s arrested for drug offences. The data provided is based on the dates 2014 to 30^th of June 2022. As shown in the table there were no arrests for the years 2014 to 2019 for drug offences where the offender was under 16 years old.

Please note that the data provided in this table is based on custody footfall, this means that if someone was arrested for multiple drug offences they will only be counted once as they were arrested once. If arrested for the same offence separate times they will be counted each time they came to custody.

The table below provides the breakdown of drug offences where the offender was under 16 years old for the years provided. Please note that an individual may have been arrested for more than one drug offence, therefore the total number in this table is higher than the one above.

The youngest under 16 to be arrested for drug possession and drug supply is 14 years old for the dates provided.