A group of voluntary organisations have launched a campaign to get prospective parliamentary candidates to commit to ending prison custody for under-18s, and to stop deaths of young people in custody.
Hilton Dawson, the former Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre, is leading the "Prison is no place for children" campaign, which is backed by bereavement group Inquest, prison reform organisations the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Prison Reform Trust, and several children's charities and crime-reduction groups.
Dawson said an election campaign was an ideal time to focus people's attention on the issue.
A parliamentary petition calling for the end of child deaths in custody, which was introduced by Dawson in February, has been signed by 75 MPs.
www.inquest.org.uk.
