THEFT OF AN ICED BUN AND A DOUGHNUT TRIED AT THE OLD BAILEY.

Judge frees girl, aged 12, at the Old Bailey

THE TIMES.

23^rd JULY , 1981.

By Frances Gibb

A girl aged 12 stood in the dock of the Central Criminal Court in London yesterday, charged with stealing an iced bun and a doughnut. The girl, believed to be the youngest defendant in memory to appear at Britain's main criminal court, could barely be seen over the dock's wooden walls where she stood flanked by prison officers.

In a whisper she pleaded not guilty to a charge that last July she and her brother, aged 15, stole the cakes from the Staines branch of International Stores. The food store chain had brought the prosecution privately. After being told the children's ages, Judge Alan Lipfriend asked to see counsel privately. When the court reassembled, Mr. Victor Claisse, for the prosecution, said no evidence would be offered against the brother and sister. The judge said: “ I am very pleased to hear that. It seems to be a very proper attitude to adopt .How it is this matter came to court I do not know and I do not know that I should inquire. It having come here, I am pleased that those instructing you have allowed you to take this attitude."

The judge ordered 'not guilty" to be entered on the file, and the children's immediate release. They were charged jointly  with their mother, who was remanded on bail. The judge ordered that in any report of the proceedings, the children should not be identified.

The case had been committed to Kingston Crown Court after the defence elected trial by jury. It was transferred as part of the Central Criminal Court's summer practice of relieving backlog at other courts. Afterwards the children's father said it was disgraceful that his children should appear at the court.

 "This is like the old days when children were transported to Botany Bay on a charge like that."

He said the family had elected trial by jury because it most emphatically denied the charges. The case against the children was that they had nibbled at a bun and a doughnut in a shop while waiting for their mother .

 The case brought swift condemnation from law reform groups. The Children's Legal Centre described it as ludicrous and said the system needed an overhaul. The National Council for Civil Liberties called for an end to private prosecutions.

 International Stores said yesterday: "We would have been happy for the matter to have been dealt with by a magistrates' court. But once the defence had elected for trial, the first opportunity we had of offering no evidence against the children was this morning. We are bound to be made to look villains in this."

*** Our Legal Correspondent writes : "Normally children under 17 charged with offences are brought before the juvenile courts and do not appear in the adult criminal courts. The exception is where the child is charged jointly with an adult. In such a case, the law allows the child to appear at the same court as the adult co-defendant.