"Artful Dodger" Thief is an 8-Year-Old Boy!

A thief in Hull, England, has been given the moniker "Hull's Artful Dodger" after stealing more than £1,850 of cash and goods in just a couple of weeks. The police finally got their break when a CCTV caught the thief in action ... and here's the surprise: the "Artful Dodger" is just 8 years old!

A boy dubbed 'Hull's Artful Dodger' looks set to escape punishment because he is only eight years old.

Detectives believe they know the identity of the boy who has been involved in at least five distraction thefts at businesses and charity shops across the city.

But officers say they are unable to prosecute him when they catch up with the youngster, because he is under the age of criminal responsibility, which is 10.

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This is why Doctor Horrible should be in charge...
Okay, sorry, just kidding. Truthfully, children have been taught to be skilled thieves for centuries, but I still agree that someone under 10 should be held responsible for such actions.

But someone under 10 should be taken into custody and counseled before this becomes his whole life. A kid this smart needs to be show a better path before he thinks this is all he is good at.
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I agree very much with CelticCatEyes. There are children all over the world who become skilled thievs and perform other criminal acts. If you're an adult looking to reach into the pockets of socitey by stealing, what other way then to send your kid out there. Someone other than this child is responsible for these acts, but if an adult can be held responsible for stealing, why not send your kid out there? I mean he's only 10, whats the worst that can happen?? In the case that a child cannot be charged as an adult, an alternative punishement would be to send the little bugger into a counseling program that puts him on a better path and gets him out of the habit of stealing or whatever crime he or she intends to commit. I say stop it now before it gets too late and the little guy is all of a sudden 25 and is in jail because he didint have the chance to know any better his whole life.
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10 years? Here it's 15.

Surely they could prosecute anyone telling him to steal? That's why you don't see kids stealing stuff everywhere, telling someone else to do it gives the same punishment as if you did it yourself.
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Oh, don't worry, just 'cos he can't be prosecuted doesn't mean he'll just walk away when he's caught. If it's his parentes behind it (and it's hard to see how it wouldn't be, at least tacitly) then he'll either end up in care or there will be some heavy duty intervention.

Of course - stories of it all going wrong and being mishandled abound, but in reality for the most part it works, which is probably all any society can claim.
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Oh, and yes, the people behind it will get done for ading and abetting, incititement, child neglect and half a dozen other things up to and including not having a TV license.
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sw - That's what I was going to say. Obviously something is going on at home to encourage this behavior. However, I remember seeing a program about child theives and pretty much the police officers tell them "Don't do that again" and send them off on their way.
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