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.
They are meant to provide a better environment for more vulnerable juveniles, with a higher staff to inmate ratio, but Gareth Myatt's death has caused this assumption to be questioned.
Home Office figures obtained by Young People Now show that the use of restraint in STCs and YOIs is roughly the same, despite the fact that more than 2,000 under-18s are held in YOIs while fewer than 200 are held in STCs.
This can partly be explained by differences in the way that restraint is recorded, and in the techniques used. But the headline statistic - that restraint has been used about 11,000 times in STCs since 1998 - is still shocking.
Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, a charity that works with bereaved families, says: "There has been concern about the number of times restraint has been used." She adds that Inquest is "uneasy" about the way STCs are run.
The Prison Reform Trust also objects to STCs run by private companies.
Enver Soloman, senior policy officer at the trust, says: "It is wrong for a business whose bottom line is profit to run a prison."
The trust favours small institutions for young people who have committed the most serious crimes. These should be located near the young person's home, and staffed by qualified professionals with experience of dealing with drug misuse, mental health and other problems.
Adam's family has said he was unhappy at being held in an institution a 230-mile round trip from his home in Burnley, Lancashire. A Youth Justice Board spokeswoman says young offenders are held in the most appropriate type of institution, based on age and vulnerability, but would not be moved to a different type of prison nearer their home.
Duty of care
Hilton Dawson, the Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre, intends to call for a ban on imprisonment for under-16s when the children bill is debated in the House of Commons in September. "This is one of the greatest scandals of this Government," he says. "Young people who should be under the care of the State are dying while in custody. The only way to stop it is to say young people should never be sent to young offender institutions or secure training centres."
Dawson will call for an amendment to the bill. He believes that the most serious offenders should be in specialist units.
Some organisations are taking matters into their own hands. The YMCA runs a programme called Partnerships in Prisons that aims to reduce reoffending by helping people about to be released.
Steve Fox, development and policy officer for the scheme, has worked with young people in Wetherby YOI for the past three years (YPN, 7-13 January, p12). He says: "It's all based on developing a trusting relationship."
Fox says the YMCA can work alongside prison officers to good effect: "The role of an officer can be quite restrictive, whereas the YMCA has more freedom."
He stresses that officers do a good job, but says external organisations can offer an extra level of support.
Lobby groups welcome such initiatives, but emphasise that all young offenders should have access to better support and services. Inquest's Coles says the deaths of Adam Rickwood and Gareth Myatt make it clear there is a need for a "fundamental rethink" of the treatment of young people in custody.
