One-year-old baby girl is reported to the police and recorded as crime suspect
A one-year-old girl has been recorded as a crime suspect by police – after she inflicted ‘minor injury’ on another child.
New figures show hundreds of children under the age of ten have been reported in Kent for offences such as burglary, arson and sexual offending.
A total of 683 people aged nine or below were named by police in the county between January 2023 and December 2025.
The youngest suspect was identified as a one-year-old, who was reported to the force after another child suffered a minor injury.
Obtained via a Freedom of Information request to Kent Police, the data also included six two-year-olds, 11 three-year-olds and 20 four-year-olds.
Kent County Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, councillor Paul Webb, has admitted the findings are ‘not great’.
But he added: ‘We support children of all ages through our prevention programme. We try to get them as early as possible, really help them through our services and talk with parents.’
Mr Webb said he believed the one-year-old girl’s case was likely the result of accidental behaviour involving another toddler.
Chief Supt Rob Marsh, head of Kent Police’s Strategic Prevention Command, said: ‘We can receive reports of crimes by children from various sources, including from victims, family members or schools and other agencies’
New figures show hundreds of children under the age of 10 have been reported in Kent for offences such as burglary, arson and sexual offending
The figures show 76 per cent of the children linked to offending across the three-year period were boys, and that violence against another person accounted for the highest number of reports.
Arson, criminal damage, burglary and minor public order incidents were among the other offences.
In total, 130 sexual offences involving children under nine were reported.
Due to the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales being ten, none of the children will have faced prosecution or court proceedings.
Child-on-child sexual abuse is recognised nationally as a safeguarding issue that schools and councils are required to monitor closely.
Department for Education guidance states allegations involving rape, assault by penetration or sexual assault should still be referred to police even where the alleged perpetrator is under ten.
It adds that a welfare approach will be taken as opposed to one of criminal justice.
Kent Police has said all incidents reported to officers must be logged under Home Office rules, even where the child involved is below the age of criminal responsibility or where no further action is considered appropriate.
Kent County Council’s cabinet member for children’s services, councillor Paul Webb (pictured), has admitted the findings are ‘not great’
Chief Supt Rob Marsh, head of Kent Police’s Strategic Prevention Command, said: ‘We can receive reports of crimes by children from various sources, including from victims, family members or schools and other agencies.’
He added the force’s Child Centred Policing Teams focuses on ‘prevention, deterrence and education’, while its Violence Reduction Unit works with partners on ‘targeted initiatives to divert young people away from criminality’.
‘Our focus is very much on understanding what has caused a child to become involved in crime so that this can be addressed, often through work with partners to provide effective support measures,’ he said.
Police may speak with parents or issue Local Child Curfews restricting children from being out alone at certain times.
Other out-of-court interventions can include Community Resolutions or Youth Conditional Cautions.
He added: ‘The use of out-of-court resolutions will often involve the child continuing to engage with officers and other agencies through the completion of educational workbooks, whilst abiding by certain conditions on their conduct.
‘This ensures they understand the impact of their offending and has proven to be a very effective way of diverting young people from criminality.’
Mr Webb said county lines gangs hold much of the blame for the crime levels in children, as they often target vulnerable youngsters for recruitment, particularly those in care.
‘This is a big problem we’ve seen not just in Kent, but across the south-east in particular,’ he said. ‘It’s something we work very, very closely on with social services, with the police, and all of our children’s homes.’
The age of criminal responsibility is currently set at 10 in England and Wales and is 12 in Scotland – though the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended countries set it at 14 or above.
