:00:05. > :00:09.from Oxford. In tonight's programme: From sexual assaults to carrying a
:00:09. > :00:15.firearm - the rise in the number of children who commit crime but are
:00:15. > :00:18.too young to be prosecuted for them. Also tonight: A single man with a
:00:18. > :00:23.three-bedroom house and a family of four who need more space - could
:00:23. > :00:27.both benefit from a home-swap scheme designed to work like speed dating?
:00:27. > :00:37.And later on: Housing bosses say it with flowers - why this man has been
:00:37. > :00:44.
:00:44. > :00:49.Good evening. Their crimes can be just as serious and just as
:00:49. > :00:52.distressing as any committed by an adult. But children under the age of
:00:52. > :00:56.ten can't be prosecuted for what they've done because the law deems
:00:56. > :00:59.them too young to be responsible for their actions. A BBC South
:00:59. > :01:02.investigation has revealed that the number of crimes being committed by
:01:02. > :01:06.children below the age of criminal responsibility in parts of our
:01:06. > :01:11.region has nearly doubled in the past three years. Victoria Cook has
:01:11. > :01:14.this exclusive report. Across the Thames Valley, the number
:01:14. > :01:19.of crimes committed by younger children is going down, but it's
:01:19. > :01:23.increased in Wycombe and Oxford. Nearly 400 crimes were reported in
:01:23. > :01:27.our area in the last three years. None of the children allegedly
:01:27. > :01:30.responsible were old enough to face prosecution. Some of the crimes
:01:30. > :01:33.would attract serious punishment if the offender was an adult, including
:01:33. > :01:36.sexual assault by a five-year-old in West Oxfordshire, rape by a
:01:36. > :01:44.six-year-old in Aylesbury and a nine-year-old caught carrying a
:01:44. > :01:47.firearm in South Bucks. The age of criminal responsibility divides
:01:47. > :01:53.expert opinion - some say that children know the difference between
:01:53. > :02:03.right and wrong before they're ten and so should punishable. Some say
:02:03. > :02:04.
:02:04. > :02:10.ten is too young and think the age should be raised to 14. We have to
:02:10. > :02:15.consider the entire context of their development, the circumstances of
:02:15. > :02:20.which could be socio economic. It could be a social and familial
:02:20. > :02:26.factors that might cause what we might call per normal parenting
:02:26. > :02:29.patterns to deviate. Something like shoplifting, burglary, robbery,
:02:29. > :02:34.something like that, if they are under the age of criminal
:02:34. > :02:38.responsibility, maybe the parents need to accept some responsibility.
:02:38. > :02:40.They are children and it is about learning and discipline. Start them
:02:40. > :02:44.at home and a lot of it is not done at home.
:02:44. > :02:46.Police say the crimes are wide ranging and so they're dealt with on
:02:46. > :02:50.an individual basis. Although they can't prosecute, they can impose
:02:50. > :02:53.curfews. If children commit crimes regularly, authorities have powers
:02:53. > :03:01.to take them into care and hold parents responsible for their
:03:01. > :03:05.actions. A short time ago, I spoke to
:03:05. > :03:12.Shauneen Lambe from the charity Just For Kids Law. She told me why she
:03:12. > :03:15.believes the age of criminal responsibility should be increased.
:03:15. > :03:19.Recent scientific research has shown that adolescent brains are not
:03:19. > :03:24.developed in the way that adult brains are and this has been
:03:24. > :03:30.accepted by the United States Supreme Court. The neuroscience
:03:30. > :03:34.shows that the frontal lobe, the consequential thinking part of the
:03:34. > :03:40.brain is not developed until late adolescence. There have been high
:03:40. > :03:49.profile cases, such as the Jamie Bolger case. They were not jailed
:03:49. > :03:54.because they were not able to be prosecuted as adults. Very young
:03:54. > :03:57.children know right from wrong. My four-year-old knows that it was
:03:57. > :04:02.wrong to fight but doesn't necessarily stop him from doing
:04:02. > :04:05.that. What I think is needed in those serious situations is some
:04:05. > :04:11.kind of therapeutic intervention that allows those children to become
:04:11. > :04:18.the best possible adults that they can be. What kind of intervention
:04:18. > :04:24.are you talking about? Scandinavia, there are small units
:04:24. > :04:28.with children, social workers and others that allow the Jordan to grow
:04:28. > :04:34.into a civic and responsible adult. What if they continue to break the
:04:34. > :04:39.law? They should be interventions and I think breaking the law can be
:04:39. > :04:42.a wide range of things, from loitering on the streets to very
:04:42. > :04:45.serious offences was that there are times when children need to be
:04:45. > :04:50.removed from their family environment but I still think, where
:04:50. > :04:53.we place them is what is important. It should be a welfare -based
:04:53. > :04:56.placement rather than incarceration. Thank you.
:04:56. > :05:00.A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in
:05:00. > :05:03.Oxford has been bailed by police. It follows the shooting of a woman in
:05:03. > :05:06.her 40s on Crowberry Road in Blackbird Leys on Saturday morning.
:05:06. > :05:10.She's now been released from hospital. Two other men arrested
:05:10. > :05:15.have also been bailed. The 111 telephone service for NHS
:05:15. > :05:19.patients in Buckinghamshire is to be transferred to another provider. NHS
:05:19. > :05:22.Direct admitted its operation there and in some other parts of the
:05:22. > :05:25.country was "financially unsustainable". A review has
:05:25. > :05:29.concluded that the cost of providing the service exceeds the agreed
:05:29. > :05:32.contract price. There was criticism when the service was launched in
:05:32. > :05:36.March that calls were taking too long to be answered. Additional
:05:36. > :05:38.staff were brought in to manage demand. NHS Direct says it will
:05:38. > :05:44.continue to operate 111 in Buckinghamshire until alternative
:05:44. > :05:49.arrangements can be made. Demand for affordable rented housing
:05:49. > :05:51.has never been higher in Oxford. At the same time, new regulations
:05:51. > :05:55.regarding spare bedrooms are affecting how much housing benefit
:05:55. > :06:05.people can claim. Now the city council is borrowing the concept of
:06:05. > :06:06.
:06:06. > :06:13.speed dating to match up those in need.
:06:13. > :06:16.How are you today? Philip Richard Lee lives alone in a council house.
:06:16. > :06:19.He is grounded in his local community but says he is under
:06:20. > :06:24.pressure to move somewhere smaller. The home swap in itself is not too
:06:25. > :06:29.bad. It is being forced to actually move out of your own house, where
:06:29. > :06:34.you have been for 18 years and then move somewhere where you don't
:06:34. > :06:37.really know anyone. The Lockhart family live in a two bed flat.
:06:37. > :06:45.They'd say moving to a bigger place would change their lives. It would
:06:45. > :06:48.be amazing for us because in our situation, we have stopped fostering
:06:48. > :06:55.because we don't have a spare bedroom. We were told we cannot
:06:55. > :06:58.foster because the cannot share the run. We have met Phil, who is living
:06:58. > :07:02.on his own in a three-bedroom house and the Lockhart family who need
:07:02. > :07:08.more space. They have been invited to a special speed dating home swap
:07:08. > :07:13.event being run by Oxford City Council. It is one in a series and
:07:13. > :07:19.is hoped to help people find out more about swapping debt council
:07:19. > :07:25.accommodation. There are a lot of people here and it is good they are
:07:25. > :07:29.meeting each other. It is all flats, I want a house or a bungalow.
:07:30. > :07:35.turnout was modest but the city council is hoping that future events
:07:35. > :07:39.will help tackle the 5000 strong waiting list.
:07:39. > :07:42.It was an act of bravery which undoubtedly saved lives and which
:07:42. > :07:45.has finally been recognised by a grateful community. A badly damaged
:07:45. > :07:49.American World War Two aircraft was on the verge of crash landing in
:07:49. > :07:53.Princes Risborough. Its crew managed to divert the plane away from homes
:07:54. > :07:57.but all four on board were killed. Sergeant Cecil A Edmonds was the
:07:57. > :08:01.plane's engineer. His nephew, who was named after him, was among
:08:01. > :08:10.relatives who made a pilgrimage to the crash site as the town unveiled
:08:10. > :08:13.a new memorial. Nearly 70 years on, there's still a
:08:13. > :08:17.clearing on Kop Hill where Sergeant Cecil A Edmonds' plane crashed,
:08:17. > :08:20.killing all five people on board. Family members who never got to know
:08:20. > :08:25.him travelled from Ashville in North Carolina for the chance to say
:08:25. > :08:31.goodbye. This is where a momentous part of my life happened and the
:08:31. > :08:41.things that my uncle could never do for his family, he never had a
:08:41. > :08:45.chance. I have made a pilgrimage to where it started. I can now put it
:08:45. > :08:48.to rest. Permanent memorial stones have been unveiled in Prince
:08:48. > :08:57.Risborough for Sergeant Edmonds and other aircrew who died around the
:08:57. > :09:03.town during the war. So much time has gone by without any recognition.
:09:03. > :09:09.Those stones are a new thing. It should have happened in 1945. That
:09:09. > :09:11.was when they died. I think they should be appreciated. Young
:09:11. > :09:16.American servicemen and surviving veterans headed a procession through
:09:16. > :09:20.the town. They gave their lives in service to their country, it was
:09:20. > :09:23.dedication. It would have been easy for them to give up but they didn't.
:09:23. > :09:27.They kept on fighting and that set an example to our current
:09:27. > :09:37.generation. Photos show the wreckage on Kop Hill. The family believes the
:09:37. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:47.crew's actions averted a disaster in the town. He sacrificed five lives
:09:47. > :09:50.for their is no telling how many people. It's a heroic story that