THE CHILD prison population should be cut by a third by 2005, according to a leading charity. The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders said that the rising number of children in young offenders’ institutions could breach the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

NACRO sid that the number of 15 to 17-year-olds behind bars in England and Wales has risen from 1,300 in 1993 to 2,600 now.

Research shows that nine in 10 children given custodial sentences will commit a fresh offence when they are released. The charity has produced a ten-point plan to reduce the number of children in prison.