LONDON – Two brothers aged 10 and 11 were accused on Tuesday of the attempted murder of two other boys – becoming some of the youngest people ever charged with such a serious crime in Britain.
The victims, 11 and 9, say they were robbed and beaten in an area of fields and woodland in Edlington, northern England, on Saturday.
Neighbours said the younger victim was found wandering a road covered in blood. The older boy was discovered semiconscious in a wooded ravine nearby. Neighbors who found them told British media that they appeared to have been beaten, slashed and burned with cigarettes.
The 11-year-old victim was in intensive care with serious head injuries. The 9-year-old needed surgery on his arm.
Crown Prosecution Service spokesman Chris Hartley said each suspect faced two charges of attempted murder and two of robbery. They are accused of stealing a mobile phone and about N$65 from the victims.
Neither the suspects nor the victims is being publicly identified because of their age. The defendants appeared briefly in court on Tuesday and were ordered detained pending trial.
Local authorities confirmed the two suspects had been in foster care in Edlington, a quiet former mining village on the edge of Doncaster, 240 kilometres north of London.
The age of criminal responsibility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10, among the lowest in Europe. In Scotland it is currently being raised from eight to 12. In the United States the age of responsibility for federal crimes is 10.
– Nampa-AP
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