Young offender institutions (YOIs) are "hotbeds of violence", according to The Howard League for Penal Reform. Figures published in response to a recent parliamentary question by the Liberal Democrats reveal that nine out of 10 of the UK's most violent prisons are YOIs.
The statistics show that in 2006 there were 4,707 attacks by young offenders on fellow inmates, almost double the figure of six years before. Although young offenders make up just three per cent of the prison population, 11 per cent of those involved in serious assaults were under 18.
A Council of Europe report rated the UK as having the worst child detention record in western Europe, and found that England and Wales are jailing an average of 2,274 children and young people in any one week. Frances Crook, director of the Howard League, says: "The majority of children should receive community sentences."
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