Vulnerable girl strip-searched twice by male officers in YOI, report reveals
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
An “incredibly vulnerable” girl was restrained and stripped twice by male officers at a young offender institution (YOI), a damning report into the treatment of children in the facility has revealed.
Inspectors visiting Wetherby YOI, in West Yorkshire, raised concerns with the setting’s governor after watching video footage which showed that on two occasions “an all-male team was used to cut or remove the clothes from a vulnerable girl” to prevent self-harming.
A female officer should have been present during the search, inspectors have said, as charities have called for all girls to be removed from the YOI which is one of three settings holding a total of seven girls currently in custody in England and Wales.
Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said: “We were deeply shocked to find adult male officers restraining and stripping an incredibly vulnerable girl not once but twice.
“While they no doubt acted to prevent serious harm, the presence of multiple men pinning her down and removing her clothes will have caused further trauma and, given how predictable the behaviour of this particular girl was, the YOI has no excuse not to have made sure that female officers were in attendance.”
Inspectors raised further concerns about the overall use of strip-searching at Wetherby.
They found that 24 children had been strip-searched in the last 12 months with 12 of those occurring under restraint.
Pain-inducing techniques were applied nine times over the same period. The Independent Review of Restraint Panel deemed every use of these techniques as “inappropriate”, according to the report.
It criticises leaders’ failure to consistently review use of force, saying this is “creating serious gaps in its oversight”.
On one occasion the restraint of a child which resulted in an injury “had not been referred to senior leaders”, the report adds.
Inspectors found that not enough was being done to make sure children were kept in reasonable conditions.
The inspection took place during the winter, and 31% of children said they felt cold in their cell.
“The heating was unreliable, and some children had cell window vents that were broken and slept in their day clothes to keep warm,” the report states.
Children who were separated from their peers for their own protection or in response to an incident spent up to 23.5 hours a day locked in their cells in these conditions.
Wetherby has the highest levels of self-harm of any prison in England, including adult prisons, and a particularly high level of complex needs among young people “with a level of risk equivalent to Category A adult men,” the report states.
The Howard League for Penal Reform is calling on ministers to remove girls from Wetherby YOI
Its chief executive Andrea Coomber said: “It is virtually impossible to imagine the damage caused to the girl who, made to live in a prison designed for boys, became so distressed to the point of wanting to harm herself, and was then forcibly stripped by a group of men, not once but twice. It is appalling that the state’s care for vulnerable children could sink to such depths.
“The Howard League has consistently opposed the decision to place girls in Wetherby, and this shocking report spells out why. This is a prison that was already failing boys, and it is even less equipped to meet the specific needs of girls. Some of the findings raise significant safeguarding concerns and potential breaches of human rights.”
Emma Ferguson-Law, senior solicitor in the abuse team at Bolt Burdon Kemp added: "The law is clear that when an individual is 17 years old or under, a strip search can only take place in the presence of an appropriate adult. The police have the power to override this rule if there is an urgent risk of serious harm to the child. However, in this case we have a young vulnerable girl being forcibly stripped twice by a group of male prison guards. It is difficult to understand how any situation could warrant this and even more inconceivable that there weren’t any female guards on duty to carry out the search if it was imperative.
“Clear guidelines must be issued to all officers to ensure that they understand the consequences of their actions.
“As abuse lawyers we know the catastrophic impact sexual abuse has on individuals, especially on children. Strip searches are intrusive and traumatic; the young girl in this case will likely have been traumatised by this event which will affect her throughout her life. She – amongst hundreds of other children who have been strip searched in this country – has been failed by the people who are there to protect her."
Carolyne Willow, director of children’s rights charity Article 39 said: “What inspectors describe has happened to girls and boys in this prison fall within official definitions of child abuse and neglect.
“Children should not be in prison. While they are, there must be robust child protection and police investigations into all suspected abuse and officer criminality. Children who may have been unlawfully restrained must be provided independent legal advice, and reassurance that they will not be punished for seeking help and protection.”
Article 39 recently obtained copies of letters sent to ministers in June 2021 and January 2022 by the national Independent Restraint Review Panel.
They found that children “see restraint as the norm [in prison] and are nervous about the consequences of raising concerns” and video footage of incidents “is often not available” as “too often staff do not switch their cameras on”.
The Ministry of Justice said that it is committed to publishing its Children and Young People Strategy this year, “which will set out our medium-long term plan for making sure the needs of the very small number of girls in our care are supported”.
A spokesperson added: “Custody should always be the last resort for children who commit crime and there has been an almost 70% decrease in the number of girls in youth custody since 2015, averaging just 12 girls in custody last year.
“This small number of girls have exceptionally complex needs and require specialised support, which is why HMYOI Wetherby is providing additional training to staff on self-harm and increasing opportunities for meaningful activity, education and personal development.”
