A report by Scotland's chief inspector of prisons, Dr Andrew McLellan, has highlighted that a 15-year-old was detained in Cornton Vale, a women-only prison.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that five boys aged under 16 had been held in Kilmarnock prison in the last year (Children Now, 4-10 May).
In the Cornton Vale report, McLellan said: "However well they are treated, prison is no place for 15-year-olds."
A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said the child was on an unruly certificate, applied to children whose behaviour is deemed to put them and others at risk of harm. "Nobody wants to see children under 16 held in prisons and it's regrettable when that is the situation," she said.
The report said there had been progress in providing a "more fulfilling regime" for young offenders, although this "did not appear to have made a significant difference" to their lives.
- www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1102/0011794.pdf.
