CYP Now - Out-of-court settlement reached over solitary confinement of teenager in Feltham YOI

The government has agreed to pay £31,500 in compensation to a young man who was subjected to “inhumane or degrading treatment” in a London young offender institution as a teenager.

It took seven years for AB to receive compensation. Picture: josefkubes/ Adobe Stock

The claimant, identified as AB in court documents, was locked alone in his cell for more than 23 hours a day for at least the first 55 days of his detention in Feltham. He was said to have had serious mental health problems.

During his time at Feltham between December 2016 and February 2017, when he was 15 years old, he received no education and had no contact with other children, only being allowed out of his cell for 30 minutes a day to exercise, shower or use the phone.

The seven-year legal battle came to an end when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided to strike out AB’s application because a friendly settlement was reached as the UK government agreed to pay one of the largest sums on record as part of such a settlement.

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