Information on pre court cautions
Introduction
If you are arrested and interviewed concerning an offence or a number of offences and:
- You have admitted your guilt
- The offence is the type that can be dealt with outside of court
- You are willing to take part
You will be referred to the Bureau.
What is the Bureau?
It is a panel made up of:
- Gwent Police
- Youth Offending Service (YOS)
- A member of the community trained and appointed by the YOS and Police
What is its purpose?
The purpose of the Bureau is to make a decision on the most appropriate way to deal with your offence(s).
This may include options like:
- An official caution
- An official caution with a voluntary plan of action to address issues relating to your offending behaviour
- An official caution with a compulsary plan of action to address issues relating to your offending behaviour (Youth Conditional Caution)
- Regerral to court to be dealt with magistrates
- No further action
What will happen when the referral is made to the bureau?
Gwent police will make a referral to the YOS informing them that you have been referred to the Bureau. The YOS will:
- Set a date for the Bureau – to be held within 28 days
- Send a member of staff to visit you and your parent / carer to discuss the offence and the reason why it happened. They will complete an assessment during this visit.
- Contact the victim to discuss how the offence has affected them and offer them a chance to get involved. This could involve you being asked to write a letter explaining what happened, meeting the victim or carrying out some practical work in the community.
- Write a report for members of the Bureau telling them about the offence and suggesting ways to help prevent further offending.
What happens when I attend the Bureau?
Members of the Bureau will meet before you arrive to discuss your case. They will consider carefully:
- The seriousness of your offence(s)
- The extent to which you are taking responsibility for your actions
- Your response during the assessment period
- Your willingness to carry out the action requested by the victim
- Your response to previous intervention
- The action plan you have agreed with your YOS worker
You and your parent/carer will be invited to the Bureau and you will be informed of the decision. You will be asked to sign an official Caution which will be held on the police system as evidence of the decision
What happens after the Bureau meeting?
If you have received a caution with voluntary or compulsory actions, the YOS will contact you following the Bureau to arrange to carry out the work.
If you wish, you can bring along a legal representative to be present during the delivery of the decision of Bureau. It is important to note that the legal representative will have no input or influence on the decision making process and will be present for the delivery of the decision of Bureau only.
What happens if I don’t carry out the actions I agreed to do in the Bureau?
If you agreed to receive a Youth Conditional Caution which has compulsory actions, failure to complete the actions will result in your case being referred back to the Bureau and possibly sent to court where the Magistrates will decide what happens to you. You may have also agreed to do some voluntary actions. These are not compulsory and there will be no further action if you decide not to complete them.
For further information please contact us here.