More than 700 children across Suffolk were arrested for a variety of crimes including rape, assault, theft and murder over a one-year period, it has emerged.

A Freedom of Information request made by this publication to Suffolk police has revealed that 731 people under the age of 18 were arrested between April 2023 and April 2024.

Suffolk's police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore pointed towards factors such as family breakdowns and school exclusions as contributing towards the "disturbing" figures.

The most common crime amongst the arrests was assault - with 75 youths arrested for common assault and 64 for actual bodily harm.

Thirty-six children were arrested for criminal damage, 32 for robbery and 23 for the rape of a female under the age of 16.

Other crimes included theft from shops, vehicles and houses, rapes of boys and girls under the age of 13, and drug possessing and supplying.

Two under 18s were arrested for murder,  with one for manslaughter and one for an attempt to choke or strangle.

Eighteen children were arrested for an assault on an emergency worker, 11 were arrested for being drunk and disorderly and 11 for possessing a knife or bladed weapon.

A Suffolk police spokesperson said: "Reports of offences involving children as suspects are taken seriously and dealt with sensitively by police as they can be complex matters.

"The welfare of the victim is of the utmost importance and support is offered at all stages to ensure their needs are met and that the appropriate services are provided.

"While children under the age of 10 years cannot by law be held criminally responsible or subject to prosecution, we are committed to steering vulnerable youths of all ages away from crime.

"When an offence is reported that involves an offender under the age of 18, special measures are utilised to ensure that they are dealt with appropriately, with partner agencies consulted to ensure the welfare of all concerned.

"Police officers work with partners in Youth Justice Services and Social Services to determine the needs of the child and to provide the appropriate levels of support to the family.

"The 'criminalisation' of children is avoided, and rather the issues surrounding the offence are explored, including their potential vulnerabilities and home life, and work to reduce further offending is carried out."

Tim Passmore, Suffolk Police and Crime CommissionerTim Passmore, Suffolk police and crime commissioner (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Passmore added: "This figure is quite disturbing, especially when you look at some of the serious crimes.

"I think there's some deep rooted issues in society and I think we have to get back to better individual responsibility.

"Parents have got a role to play on how they bring their children up, and I think the breakdown in family and stability in some places is clearly very unhelpful and puts people at a disadvantage.

"There's no doubt that school exclusions and partial exclusions don't help at all. I'm not blaming the school but what happens to these children who are excluded and if they're not looked after by society as a whole, then they become more at risk or vulnerable for exploitation.

"There's a big gap here I think in provision that needs to be addressed.

"For our part, with all the grants and commissioning that we do to help young people, helping them make the right choices in life with people like Positive Futures that we've financially supported for over 11 years.

"These things definitely help. You go to some areas in Suffolk that are relatively deprived, I'm not saying it's absolutely cause and effect, but there is a strong correlation.

"We have to do far more about looking at what activities there are for our younger generation so they make the right choices in life and know the difference between right and wrong.

"We haven't got sufficient focus on that as a society and if we don't deal with this, the long term trends are deeply worrying for us.

"We can deal with this though, we can work together and we can do something about it."