Parents are not directly liable in criminal law for the actions of their children, but consequences will follow, ranging from having to attend court to accompany the child to hearings right through to paying fines or attending parenting classes. The courts recognise that in the vast majority of cases children offend because proper boundaries have not been set at home.

Thanks to Andrew Keogh, criminal defence lawyer and editor of CrimeLine for his help with this section and an earlier version which appeared in A Parent’s Guide to the Law by Jon Robins (LawPack , 2009). We’re grateful also to Kim Evans for her help.