A TEN-YEAR-old is too young to leave the school gates without a parent’s permission, let alone cast a ballot. They can’t work a paper round, open a bank account or see a 12A film without an adult. They are, in almost every sense, dependent on the grown-ups around them.

Yet, the moment they cross a certain line – that protective bubble vanishes. Under current law, a child still in primary school is considered mature enough to stand in a dock, be questioned under caution and carry a criminal record that could follow them for decades.

This paradox was at the heart of a Senedd debate on Wednesday (January 14) as Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price called for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised from ten to 14.

He told the Welsh Parliament: “A child still in primary school can be arrested, questioned under caution, prosecuted, convicted, and marked, sometimes for years, by an encounter with the criminal courts. I believe we should raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

“That’s not to be soft on crime, as some would see it – it’s to be smart on crime, clear-eyed, with a hard-headed focus on what the evidence tells us.”

He warned: “The evidence is all in one direction: criminalising ten, 11, 12 and 13-year-olds is to create a conveyor belt of future crime, pulling children deeper into the system, widening the net, turning one incident into the beginning of a longer offending career.”

The former Plaid Cymru leader criticised the “crude” current threshold, saying: “The age of criminal responsibility is not just a number, it’s a line that determines whether we treat a child primarily as a child who needs help or an offender to be processed.

Mr Price pointed out that the doctrine of “doli incapax” – which presumed children aged ten to 13 were incapable of criminal intent unless proven otherwise – was abolished in 1998.

Warning of an incoherent and unfair system, he said: “Nothing better replaced it. So, now we have the worst of both worlds – a very low threshold with none of the old protections.”

He added: “As long as the legal age for criminal responsibility stays at ten, that… creates a constant pull towards court when what a child actually needs is something else: protection, support, supervision, help with mental health and, where necessary, secure care.”

Mr Price stressed early intervention does not require early criminalisation. “This is not an argument for doing nothing,” he said. “It’s an argument for doing the right thing.”

A 2023 inquiry by the Senedd’s equality committee highlighted a hidden crisis: at least 60% of young people in the justice system have a speech, language or communication need.

“Think about what that means,” said Mr Price. “It affects whether a child understands the police caution, whether they can tell their story clearly, whether they can follow what’s happening in court, take instructions, understand consequences or engage with anything designed to change their behavior.”

The MP-turned-Senedd Member added: “Sometimes, the most serious harm by children is tangled up with exploitation. Children can be groomed into offending, coerced, threatened, controlled by older criminals. When that happens, a purely punitive response misses the point. It treats the exploited child as the problem rather than as a child in danger.”

Rhian Croke, a human rights expert at the Children’s Legal Centre Wales, has warned of a “glaring contradiction” within the Wales and England legal system.

She wrote: “This legal mismatch is not just technical – it reflects a deeper inconsistency…. On the one hand, we delay rights like voting, full medical consent or signing contracts until 16 or 18. On the other, we impose adult-like punishments on children still in primary school.”

Dr Croke pointed out that the age of criminal responsibility in Wales is the lowest in Europe. This means children can be interviewed, detained, subject to strip searches, prosecuted, sentenced and given a criminal record that follows them into adulthood.

Warning Wales and England is an international outlier, she said: “Further afield, it may be interesting to learn the minimum age of criminal responsibility is higher in China and Russia.”

Dr Croke cautioned that criminalising children as young as ten can cause significant and lasting harm as well as make reoffending more likely – not less.

Jane Hutt, Wales’ social justice secretary, stressed that while the Senedd can debate the issue – the power to change the law remains locked in Westminster.

Reiterating calls for powers over youth justice, she committed to raising the issue during a forthcoming meeting with Jake Richards, the UK youth justice minister.

Ms Hutt told the Welsh Parliament: “I’m very conscious of the extensive evidence in favour of raising the age of criminal responsibility.”

In 2019, John Thomas – the ex-head of the judiciary – led a commission on justice in Wales, which recommended raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 12.

Scotland raised the age to 12 in 2021. The United Nations has urged the UK Government to raise the age to 14 in Wales and England but Westminster has resisted the calls.

A CALL to allow a 600-acre Pembrokeshire potato farm to keep a holiday let erected “in innocence” without permission, which is said to be essential for supporting the business, has been approved.

In an application recommended for approval at the January 13 meeting of Pembrokeshire County council’s planning committee, Mr and Mrs I and F Elliot sought permission for the continued use of a mobile unit with a veranda as tourist accommodation at Cresswell Barn Farm, Cresswell Quay.

Cresswell Barn Farm supplies potatoes to Welsh supermarkets and the site has a certified campsite.

The application was before the committee rather than being delegated for an officer decision as it was recommended for approval, subject to the completion of a Section 106 legal agreement essentially keeping it for holiday use only, despite being in conflict with the development plan and was made by a close family member of an officer in the planning service.

An officer report accompanying the application said an enforcement investigation was started way back in 2012 following a claim a caravan was located at the site and was being used for residential purposes.

That was closed in 2023; a 2022 investigation taking place after an allegation a structure on-site was being used for holiday letting.

A 2023 certificate of lawfulness application was made to regularise the breach of planning, saying the unit had been used for residential purposes for more than a decade, but insufficient information was provided to allow it, the report said.

An appeal against this was later made to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) but was withdrawn by the applicant.

It said the enforcement action was ongoing, leading to the formal planning application.

Of the site itself, the report said: “The agent has confirmed that due to many variables, there is no typical year for the enterprise in terms of profitability and that the income generated from tourist related activities at the farm, is critical to the farming enterprise.  The high-quality holiday unit therefore provides an additional income stream for the farming enterprise.”

It added: “The holiday unit is located adjacent to buildings that make up the farm complex, with the accommodation offering guests an immersive rural experience that introduces them to aspects of the rural economy.

“Information submitted in support of this application confirms that the income from the holiday uses at the site is critical to supplementing the potato farming enterprise.”

Speaking at the meeting, Fiona Elliot said the holiday let was a small-scale part of the wider farm complex; the building having been on-site for some 15 years, the applicants more recently “in innocence” using it as a holiday let, which visitors have described as “five-star,” not realising they needed planning permission.

Following a call by Cllr Brian Hall to back the officer recommendation of conditional approval, members unanimously supported that.

PLANS to convert a vandalised former Pembrokeshire town centre Chinese restaurant to a flat and bedsits which were expected to be approved have been put on hold after concerns about the impact on a neighbouring property.

In an application recommended for approval, the January 13 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Mr S Sahin and Miss S Ahmed, through agent Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd, seek permission for a change of use of Grade-II-listed 20 Hamilton Terrace, Milford Haven from the former Mandarin Restaurant to one flat and eight bedsits, an amendment of an original scheme which included one extra bedsit.

The scheme, in the town’s conservation area, was before committee rather than delegated to officers as it was recommended for approval despite being contrary to a policy of the development plan.

The application for the Mandarin follows a withdrawn scheme for three flats deemed invalid by council planners.

A supporting statement said: “The property has historically been in use as a Chinese restaurant on the ground floor with two flats on the upper floors of the building. The ground floor use of the building ceased some 10 years ago and currently lies vacant. Due to the lack of use of the building, it is in a very poor condition and has been the subject of unfortunate vandalism particularly to the interior of the building.”

It says that, after the previous scheme was withdrawn, the applicants have “since reviewed their position and now present revised applications to be considered by the council”.

It went on to say: “The clients have re-thought on what type of accommodation is needed and required in this part of Milford Haven,” adding: “The proposal is considered to put an important Grade-II-Listed Building back into beneficial use and would help to secure its long-term future. The proposal would represent a high-quality and sympathetic conversion and extension of the building, and which would make a positive contribution to the locality and conservation area status.”

An officer report recommending approval said one letter of objection was received raising concerns including potential impact on a neighbouring property and boundaries, and the discharge of the sewer under number 20.

At the meeting, member of the public Jessica Clarke raised concerns about the potential impact on her mother’s neighbouring property, with issues of height and massing, surface water discharge, and shared boundary walls, asking for a site visit before any decision was made.

Cllr Brian Hall, who moved a site visit, was one of several members who raised their concerns about potential impacts, members unanimously backing that move.

The application will return to a future planning meeting.

Earlier this week utilities companies were cutting off services to the building following a warrant from a magistrate.