Inspectorate slams children's court custody procedures in Surrey and Sussex

In his report into court custody in the two counties chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick found a fragmented system where children’s safety was being put at risk.

During a visit in August last year HM Inspectorate of Prisons found that children were often being transferred to court in cellular vehicles with adult detainees.

Failures by escort and custody contractors to swiftly take children to young offender institutions or secure training centres were also commonplace. This meant children were spending long periods of time in cramped cells despite court officers attempting to ensure their cases were prioritised.

One young detainee appearing at Lewes Crown Court had to be left at a police station until 2am due to the late arrival of escort contractor Serco. The same contractor was involved in another case where a 16-year-old girl was not collected until 11:15pm despite being sentenced eight hours earlier.

Use of handcuffs was also variable, with some senior custody officers telling Hardwick and his team that it was legitimate to handcuff all children because “they will have been in trouble already on more than one occasion”.