Youth courts had erred in deciding that, pursuant to the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 s.24, the appropriate mode of trial for youths charged with robbery was the Crown Court as there was no real prospect of the imposition of a custodial sentence of over two years in length. A youth court was entitled to conclude that it was appropriate that a child charged with rape be tried in the Crown Court.
[2006] EWHC 95 (Admin)