Children under the age of 12 found hanging around on street corners at night face being picked up by the police and taken home, under new rules being put together by the justice ministry.

‘A young child should not be on the streets at night,’ justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told MPs. He is considering a curfew deadline of 8pm to 9pm. Households where children are repeatedly found on the streets will come under social worker supervision, Hirsch Ballin said.
The minister said the evening curfew is an important measure to protect younger children from becoming involved with older criminals.
On Thursday it emerged that one in three children aged 10 and 11 have already committed some form of petty crime.