29/07/2013 BBC Oxford News

from Oxford. In tonight's programme: From sexual assaults to carrying a

firearm - the rise in the number of children who commit crime but are

too young to be prosecuted for them. Also tonight: A single man with a

three-bedroom house and a family of four who need more space - could

both benefit from a home-swap scheme designed to work like speed dating?

And later on: Housing bosses say it with flowers - why this man has been

Good evening. Their crimes can be just as serious and just as

distressing as any committed by an adult. But children under the age of

ten can't be prosecuted for what they've done because the law deems

them too young to be responsible for their actions. A BBC South

investigation has revealed that the number of crimes being committed by

children below the age of criminal responsibility in parts of our

region has nearly doubled in the past three years. Victoria Cook has

this exclusive report. Across the Thames Valley, the number

of crimes committed by younger children is going down, but it's

increased in Wycombe and Oxford. Nearly 400 crimes were reported in

our area in the last three years. None of the children allegedly

responsible were old enough to face prosecution. Some of the crimes

would attract serious punishment if the offender was an adult, including

sexual assault by a five-year-old in West Oxfordshire, rape by a

six-year-old in Aylesbury and a nine-year-old caught carrying a

firearm in South Bucks. The age of criminal responsibility divides

expert opinion - some say that children know the difference between

right and wrong before they're ten and so should punishable. Some say

ten is too young and think the age should be raised to 14. We have to

consider the entire context of their development, the circumstances of

which could be socio economic. It could be a social and familial

factors that might cause what we might call per normal parenting

patterns to deviate. Something like shoplifting, burglary, robbery,

something like that, if they are under the age of criminal

responsibility, maybe the parents need to accept some responsibility.

They are children and it is about learning and discipline. Start them

at home and a lot of it is not done at home.

Police say the crimes are wide ranging and so they're dealt with on

an individual basis. Although they can't prosecute, they can impose

curfews. If children commit crimes regularly, authorities have powers

to take them into care and hold parents responsible for their

actions. A short time ago, I spoke to

Shauneen Lambe from the charity Just For Kids Law. She told me why she

believes the age of criminal responsibility should be increased.

Recent scientific research has shown that adolescent brains are not

developed in the way that adult brains are and this has been

accepted by the United States Supreme Court. The neuroscience

shows that the frontal lobe, the consequential thinking part of the

brain is not developed until late adolescence. There have been high

profile cases, such as the Jamie Bolger case. They were not jailed

because they were not able to be prosecuted as adults. Very young

children know right from wrong. My four-year-old knows that it was

wrong to fight but doesn't necessarily stop him from doing

that. What I think is needed in those serious situations is some

kind of therapeutic intervention that allows those children to become

the best possible adults that they can be. What kind of intervention

are you talking about? Scandinavia, there are small units

with children, social workers and others that allow the Jordan to grow

into a civic and responsible adult. What if they continue to break the

law? They should be interventions and I think breaking the law can be

a wide range of things, from loitering on the streets to very

serious offences was that there are times when children need to be

removed from their family environment but I still think, where

we place them is what is important. It should be a welfare -based

placement rather than incarceration. Thank you.

A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in

Oxford has been bailed by police. It follows the shooting of a woman in

her 40s on Crowberry Road in Blackbird Leys on Saturday morning.

She's now been released from hospital. Two other men arrested

have also been bailed. The 111 telephone service for NHS

patients in Buckinghamshire is to be transferred to another provider. NHS

Direct admitted its operation there and in some other parts of the

country was "financially unsustainable". A review has

concluded that the cost of providing the service exceeds the agreed

contract price. There was criticism when the service was launched in

March that calls were taking too long to be answered. Additional

staff were brought in to manage demand. NHS Direct says it will

continue to operate 111 in Buckinghamshire until alternative

arrangements can be made. Demand for affordable rented housing

has never been higher in Oxford. At the same time, new regulations

regarding spare bedrooms are affecting how much housing benefit

people can claim. Now the city council is borrowing the concept of

speed dating to match up those in need.

How are you today? Philip Richard Lee lives alone in a council house.

He is grounded in his local community but says he is under

pressure to move somewhere smaller. The home swap in itself is not too

bad. It is being forced to actually move out of your own house, where

you have been for 18 years and then move somewhere where you don't

really know anyone. The Lockhart family live in a two bed flat.

They'd say moving to a bigger place would change their lives. It would

be amazing for us because in our situation, we have stopped fostering

because we don't have a spare bedroom. We were told we cannot

foster because the cannot share the run. We have met Phil, who is living

on his own in a three-bedroom house and the Lockhart family who need

more space. They have been invited to a special speed dating home swap

event being run by Oxford City Council. It is one in a series and

is hoped to help people find out more about swapping debt council

accommodation. There are a lot of people here and it is good they are

meeting each other. It is all flats, I want a house or a bungalow.

turnout was modest but the city council is hoping that future events

will help tackle the 5000 strong waiting list.

It was an act of bravery which undoubtedly saved lives and which

has finally been recognised by a grateful community. A badly damaged

American World War Two aircraft was on the verge of crash landing in

Princes Risborough. Its crew managed to divert the plane away from homes

but all four on board were killed. Sergeant Cecil A Edmonds was the

plane's engineer. His nephew, who was named after him, was among

relatives who made a pilgrimage to the crash site as the town unveiled

a new memorial. Nearly 70 years on, there's still a

clearing on Kop Hill where Sergeant Cecil A Edmonds' plane crashed,

killing all five people on board. Family members who never got to know

him travelled from Ashville in North Carolina for the chance to say

goodbye. This is where a momentous part of my life happened and the

things that my uncle could never do for his family, he never had a

chance. I have made a pilgrimage to where it started. I can now put it

to rest. Permanent memorial stones have been unveiled in Prince

Risborough for Sergeant Edmonds and other aircrew who died around the

town during the war. So much time has gone by without any recognition.

Those stones are a new thing. It should have happened in 1945. That

was when they died. I think they should be appreciated. Young

American servicemen and surviving veterans headed a procession through

the town. They gave their lives in service to their country, it was

dedication. It would have been easy for them to give up but they didn't.

They kept on fighting and that set an example to our current

generation. Photos show the wreckage on Kop Hill. The family believes the

crew's actions averted a disaster in the town. He sacrificed five lives

for their is no telling how many people. It's a heroic story that