Troublemakers taught a lesson (From Barry And District News)

Troublemakers taught a lesson

BARRY'S young offenders were taught about the dangers of joy-riding at a car crime education day.

Held at Barry Fire Station on Tuesday, October 1, it aimed to show young people in trouble for motoring crimes the consequences of their actions. It followed a pilot day for the scheme last April.

Vicky Pfieffer, from the Vale of Glamorgan's youth offending team (YOT) said: "We had 10 young people aged between 13 and 17 take part. It was a joint venture with the South Wales Police, South Wales Fire Service, the Welsh Ambulance Service, HM Prison Service and Weston Spirit, a national youth charity tackling issues of social exclusion in young people."

The day started at 10am with ice-breaking exercises from Weston Spirit. Then a mock crash between two cars was enacted and the teenagers were part of the emergency services dealing with the situation.

Vicky said: "We had two 'casualties' with stage make-up. The young people were shown what it takes to sort out the mess of an incident like this, from cutting victims out of wreckages to zipping up body bags. It was a very hard-hitting day."

As car crime in the Vale rises, the youth offending team is showing the young people potentially responsible for traffic accidents, what the outcome of their actions could be.

After the practical demonstration, the teenagers had an afternoon of workshops, discovering how hard the law will come down on them if they commit a crime, and they were shown a taste of prison life.

After the April day, of the nine who attended, only three re-offended. And of those three, only one was involved in a motoring offence.

Vicky added: "We'll be holding three a year and hope to be able to extend the workshop to schools around the area. But it's only thanks to the other agencies giving up their time that this scheme can continue."