Policy & Practice: Soapbox - Using physical restraint in prisonssets a bad example

There is a police inquiry to see if criminal charges should be brought against staff or the Group 4 subsidiary that runs the penal institution.

The Youth Justice Board has ordered an inquiry too, but it is unlikely that much will be put into the public arena. There has been relatively little public fuss. It seems families have to campaign hard for years to get media and government attention when someone dies in suspicious circumstances in penal custody.

The Howard League for Penal Reform is concerned about the use of physical restraint for children in prisons and secure training centres.

We have found that prisons use a system of pain-compliant control and restraint a great deal. From January to November 2003, Stoke Heath used it 100 times, Huntercombe 294 and Castington 228.