Last month, Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights added its support to calls for a public inquiry into the death of 16-year-old Joseph Scholes, who hanged himself in his cell in Stoke Heath Young Offender Institution in March 2002.
The committee, which consists of MPs and lords from the three main political parties, concluded that Joseph's death "highlights successive failures within the criminal justice system in meeting the needs of a highly vulnerable child".
It drew attention to Joseph's history of self-harm and suicidal behaviour, and observed that he had allegedly been sexually abused. It also noted that the trial judge was aware of all of this when Joseph was sentenced to a two-year detention and training order, and sent to a prison rather than a local authority secure children's home.
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