Restraint technique found to increase risk of death

27 July 2011 1 min read Neil Puffett Social Care Safeguarding and child protection Youth Justice Youth custody

Research funded by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has found that restraining someone by holding them forward in a seated position increases the risk of harm or death.

A study published today (27 July) in journal Medicine, Science and the Law found that those taking part in the experiments repeatedly reported they couldn’t breathe. One volunteer was so distressed the experiment had to be aborted.

The restraint manoeuvre, known as the double-seated embrace, was banned in the youth secure estate by the YJB in June 2004, just months after 14-year-old Gareth Myatt died after being restrained with the technique at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre in April 2004.

A YJB spokeswoman said the research was funded, although not commissioned, by the YJB as long ago as 2004.

Although the technique is banned in the youth secure estate, the findings of the research could have an impact in other areas, such as restraint used in deportations.

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