Charity says raise criminal age to 14

The current age - eight in Scotland and 10 in the rest of Britain - is the lowest in Europe, despite the UN committee on the rights of the child's position that "a minimum age of criminal responsibility below the age of 12 years is not internationally acceptable."

The Prison Reform Trust released a report on vulnerable defendants on Tuesday and called for the age to be raised to 14.

The charity also accused courts of breaching disability discrimination legislation and said that sending children as young as 10 to prison was "inhumane."

It expressed particular concerned that young people were being denied a fair trial because criminal justice professionals did not understand children's developmental, learning and psychological needs despite the fact that up to 81 per cent of young people in custody had mental health problems and learning difficulties.

When asked what court was like, one child said: "I don't think they realised that I couldn't read and write very well.

"They said I had learning difficulties. The judge started to laugh and the jury started to laugh. While my life was on the line they were laughing. They use the guiltiness of other people to say that everyone is the same.

"I couldn't understand, but I said yes, whatever, to anything because, if I say I don't know, they look at me as if I'm thick. Sometimes they tell you two things at once."

Howard League for Penal Reform assistant director Andrew Neilson said: "Criminalising and locking up troubled children as young as 10 is inhumane and does nothing to make society safer.

"England and Wales should be brought in line with international standards to prevent our children being short-changed on their welfare needs."

The report recommends a review of the use of custodial sentences, access to health and social services for all young defendants and that criminal justice professionals receive comprehensive training on learning difficulties, mental health problems and children's development.

A spokesman from Her Majesty's Courts Service said: "The government is committed to ensuring that the needs of all defendants are taken into account when they appear in court" and that it is continuing to "address the issues identified in the Prison Reform Trust report."