A GROUND-breaking trial, designed to stop Hampshire’s youngsters from reoffending, will be introduced in Basingstoke.

Hampshire’s Community Court, the first of its kind in the country, involves young volunteers taking on the roles of judge and jury for their peers who have got into trouble.

The £150,000, three-year pilot started in Fareham six months ago, and organisers have been looking to increase their evidence base by expanding to north Hampshire.

PC Mark Walsh, the man behind the project, said: “It’s really important that we look at the evidence base of what we are doing and see if we are having an impact.

“Because of the strong partnership between agencies and strong community cohesion, Basingstoke was suggested as a good location. I’m absolutely thrilled.”

PC Walsh has been working on the peer court idea since 2009, and he won the Winston Churchill fellowship, which allowed him to see how similar schemes work in America.

There are guidelines about who can appear in front of the community court, and PC Walsh said the most serious cases, where police would be looking to charge, would never be dealt with by the pilot scheme.

Cases only go ahead if the victim agrees to it. Examples of offences include the theft of a drink from a shop.

Cases are resolved by the young person agreeing to do a related task, such as raising money for charity.

PC Walsh said results so far are encouraging, with only one offender out of 69 reoffending.