England - Rise in proportion of young Muslims in jail

[Anthea]

BBC News UK

The proportion of young offenders in England and Wales describing themselves as Muslim has risen.

One in five males in young offender institutions (YOIs) identified themselves as Muslim in 2011/12, compared with 16% in 2010/11. The director of the Prison Reform Trust, Juliet Lyon, said it was "a big increase" but the reasons were unclear. The proportion of youths in custody from black and minority ethnic communities also rose from 39% to 42%.

Ms Lyon said: "It could simply be there are more young Muslim men at the moment in the general population than there were a couple of years ago, but equally - and I think it's important that the Prison Service investigates this. "It could be that more young people are going to prison and then either converting to the Muslim faith whilst they're in prison or they're reverting to the Muslim faith."

The study, published jointly by the chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, and the Youth Justice Board (YJB), showed the total number of people aged 15-18 in custody fell from 1,822 in 2010/11 to 1,543 in 2011/12.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20639699