Burrows slams 'unfathomably dangerous' position of NI Children's Commissioner amid school sex crime incidents

Jon Burrows has hit out at the position of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY), Chris Quinn, who is backing proposals from the Alliance Party to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) to 14, but would prefer a higher threshold of 16.

It comes amid growing concern about sexual offences being committed in schools by pupils – and national outrage over teenage rapists who were spared jail time in England.

The Alliance proposals would have exemptions for cases such as murder and rape, but not for other sex crimes. NICCY has campaigned for the age of 16 with no exceptions.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll is the only Stormont politician openly backing NICCY’s position.

The UUP boss told the News Letter: “The proposals by the Alliance Party and Gerry Carroll to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) to 14 and 16 respectively are dangerous and have not been thought through.

“The vast majority of young people are already treated proportionately by the police and justice system through a range of warnings and diversionary mechanisms. However, currently the police are still able to intervene, investigate, make arrests and use bail conditions if necessary. This has been vital in Northern Ireland in dealing with rioting and interface violence.

“Vitally, for serious offences, the police can currently charge suspects and allow victims to have justice.

“Under Alliance’s proposal, if a youth who was one day short of his 14th birthday committed a serious assault on a victim who was left with life-changing injuries, the police could do nothing, it would not be a crime and the victim would get no justice whatsoever. This is outrageous.

“I’ve recently highlighted the awful level of physical assault and sexual harassment by boys of female teachers and pupils in our schools, including cyberflashing, creating deepfake porn and other extreme misogyny. This would all be legalised for under-14s by Alliance’s proposal. Indeed, a 13-year-old breaking a teacher’s nose would not be a crime.

“Gerry Carroll’s amendment, which mirrors NICCY’s position, is unfathomably dangerous. If this passed, a 15½-year-old boy could shoot someone dead and would not commit an offence.

“If the MACR were 16, then the recent case in England where two 14-year-olds raped two schoolgirls and filmed it would not be a crime. The victims would get no justice and the police wouldn’t even be able to investigate it. This is obscene and is especially dangerous for women, girls and the most vulnerable in our society.

“I believe paramilitaries and crime gangs will exploit these proposals if they become law by using young people to commit crime, and that more widely, society will be under-protected and the interests of victims sidelined.”

A recent case in England has sparked national outrage over a lenient approach to teenage rapists, who were prosecuted.

Two girls, then aged 15 and 14, were raped in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025, by two 14-year-old boys.

Another boy, then 13, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.

Judge Nicholas Rowland said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and handed them Youth Rehabilitation Orders (YROs). One of the victims told the BBC that the decision was like a “rock straight in my face”.

On Monday, the News Letter asked Children’s Commissioner Chris Quinn why his organisation would elevate the rights of male perpetrators over the rights of young victims to obtain justice. We also asked why NICCY opposes exemptions for serious cases such as rape and murder; why NICCY is intervening in a matter that is for legislators to decide; and why NICCY not equally fighting for the rights of teenage victims to see their perpetrators brought to justice.

At that time of writing on Wednesday afternoon, there was no response from the Children’s Commissioner.