In a recent letter sent to the director of HM Prison Service, he warnedthat Government policy is leading to chaos within young offenderinstitutions (Children Now, 19-25 October).
"The problem we have with treating prisoners primarily as children isthat you can't do anything to them," he says. "You can't search them,lay a finger on them, segregate them or put additional days on theirsentences. It means they can act with impunity."
The policy is creating a new type of "hardened adult prisoner", whobelieves they are above the law, he warns, pointing to a craze of youngpeople wrecking their cells before they leave.
He points to recent riots at Hindley Young Offenders Institution inGreater Manchester, where 76 juvenile offenders had to be moved afterprisoners refused to return to their cells and then flooded a wing.
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