Children Act, 2001

Period of detention in children detention school.

149.—(1) The period of detention in a children detention school which the court may impose on a child shall not be less than 3 months or more than 3 years.

(2) Any period of such detention may be consecutive on any such period imposed on the child for a previous offence or, if the child is dealt with in respect of two or more previous offences, on the period of any such detention last due to expire, so however that, where two or more consecutive periods of detention are imposed by the court, the aggregate period of detention shall not exceed 3 years.

(3) Subject to section 155 , the period of detention of a child in a children detention school shall not in any case extend beyond the date on which the child attains the age of 18 years, and a child who has attained that age but has not completed the period of his or her detention shall, where practicable, be placed out under supervision in the community in accordance with subsections (1) to (5) of section 207 , and those provisions shall apply and have effect accordingly in relation to the child, with the necessary modifications.

(4) A person who is placed out under supervision in the community in accordance with this section and who fails to comply with any of the conditions of the placing out shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.

(5) An offence under subsection (4) may be prosecuted by a probation and welfare officer.