When 14-year-old Adam Rickwood was found hanged in Hassockfield Secure Training Centre (STC) in County Dur-ham last week, he became the second young person to die in this type of facility.
The first, 15-year-old Gareth Myatt, died earlier this year while being restrained at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre, near Rugby, Warwickshire (YPN 23-29 June, p4).
Before 2004, there had been no deaths in STCs, but these two cases have added fuel to the ongoing debate on the most appropriate form of custody for young people, and whether juveniles should be locked up in the first place
A suitable environment
Privately run STCs were introduced in 1998 as an alternative to young offender institutions (YOIs), most of which are run by the Prison Service, and to local authority-operated secure children's homes.
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