Nearly 300 young Barbadians, many of them teenagers, were under the care of the Probation Service last year, and more than half of those cases involved violent or threatening offences.

This was revealed by Minister of Home Affairs and Information Gregory Nicholls as he addressed the 80th anniversary thanksgiving service of the Barbados Probation Service, at the Sanctuary Empowerment Centre, Country Road, St Michael, yesterday.

Nicholls said he was using the occasion not for comfortable celebration, but for a candid conversation about what the service means to Barbados in 2026 and what the country is asking it to do.