A JP is stepping down from his work with young offenders in protest at government plans to lessen the role played by magistrates in juvenile cases.

Mr David Irwin, chairman of Darlington magistrates' bench, has decided not to stand for re-election as deputy chairman of the combined youth panel in December.

His decision came after the government announced plans to change the law in relation to the powers of youth courts and the punishments handed out to young offenders.

One of the areas of change was the introduction of referral orders which apply to all young offenders in court for the first time, unless they are up on serious charges.

Under the new rules, these young people will be sentenced by a youth offenders' panel, made up of trained members of the public and the youth justice team.

The justice team will meet offenders and their parents and decide what sort of work youngsters could carry out in the community to make amends for their crime.

Traditional magistrates will simply say how long the work should last, but will have no say over what the punishment should be.

Mr Irwin said: "I am not happy with the direction youth justice is heading. Rather than sitting on the bench complaining about it, knowing there is nothing I can do, I decided not to stand for re-election.

"Under the new rules, all the magistrates decide is the length of the sentence. If the government wants youth justice teams to take over from magistrates, they should be honest about it and not try to get them in the back door."

Mr Irwin was sworn in as a magistrate in 1974 and soon after took on his role on the youth bench.

This will also be his final year as chairman of the Darlington bench because he has already served the maximum of four years. But he will continue as a magistrate. He said: "I'm sad to have to do this. It is the end of an era for me but I have been concerned about this for some time."