As many as 3,000 criminals, including rapists, robbers and burglars, escaped punishment last year because they were too young to be prosecuted.
Children as young as three were identified by police as being responsible for a hidden crimewave across Britain.
But they avoided criminal proceedings because they were aged below ten, when the Government says they become 'responsible' for their actions.
Young criminal: Jon Venables was just ten when he and Robert Thompson abducted and murdered toddler James Bulger
The shocking figures, which come amid increasing concern at violence involving children, sparked demands for the Government to consider lowering the age of criminal responsibility.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: 'Criminals are becoming more precocious and police tell me that those involved in criminal activities are at a much younger age than before.
Precocious: MP Philip Davies believes criminals are getting younger
'People take the view that if they are old enough to commit the crime, they are old enough to take responsibility.'
A survey of 30 of the 52 forces in Britain using Freedom of Information laws revealed 1,605 crimes were blamed on someone aged under ten in the last financial year. If the remaining 22 forces are added, including the Met where more than a sixth of all offences take place, the total is likely to reach more than 3,000.
The catalogue of crimes included:
*Greater Manchester Police dealt with eight-year-olds suspected of sex assaults on other children in Tameside and Salford, as well as one allegedly behind a kidnapping in Rochdale.
*Police in Fife recorded 143 cases, including two eight-year-olds behind a rape in Levenmouth.
*Avon and Somerset Police logged crimes against five six-year-old boys, including a sex attack, vandalism and an assault.
*In Essex, investigators identified a four-year-old as being responsible for vandalism and an eight-year-old committed a racially aggravated assault.
*Officers in Falkirk found a three-year-old boy and four-year-old girl were responsible for a spate of vandalism.
In Scotland, the age of criminal responsibility recently increased from eight to 12, while in many European countries it ranges between 14 and 16.
In the vast majority of cases officers cannot interview or detain suspects, unless they obtain an emergency order for their safety.
As a result many police forces do not even record crimes where they believe youngsters under ten have been responsible.
Last year the Government rejected calls to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, saying those aged ten and over know the difference between bad behaviour and crime.
The latest figures come just days after a hearing took place to decide when Jon Venables should be released from prison on parole.
He and Robert Thompson were ten in 1993 when they snatched two-year-old James Bulger from a Merseyside shopping centre and murdered him.
Venables's former solicitor," Laurence Lee, said reducing" the limit was 'just not on' but neither was increasing it.
Mr Lee said: 'Do-gooders" suggest that it should be increased to 14, or even 15 as it is in Norway, but I do not think that would be acceptable to the British public.'