Some bullying incidents may involve a criminal offence or a civil breach of the law.  For example, this could include:

• Physical and sexual assault (actual or threatened)
• Cyber harassment
• Racist incidents

A child and his or her family have the right to take a case to the police if they feel a criminal offence has been committed. Schools must be clear in their Behaviour Policy about behaviours that could lead to police involvement.  Schools should also make sure that they keep accurate and confidential records of all bullying incidents reported or witnessed in the school.

The Youth Justice Board and Youth Offending Teams (YOT) have statutory powers to prevent offending by children and young people.

In a number of local authority areas the YOT and Police are involved in anti-bullying work, notably in helping to develop ‘restorative practice’. For more on this go to the ABA local authority toolkit website