YOT premises must be ‘weapon-free zones’

He was driven there by his mother, who had every reason to believe he would be safe; after all, the course was being held in the town hall. But H was far from safe. Unknown to everyone, another boy who was attending the course knew H and held a grievance against him – six weeks earlier he had attempted to stab H, which had put H in hospital for three days. H knew who attacked him but chose not to tell anyone who asked him.

When the other boy joined the course he immediately started fighting H. He used the knife he was carrying and in an attack that lasted less than a minute he stabbed H three times, killing him. The premises didn’t have any form of weapons detection system.

The youth offending team (YOT) staff had discussed the issue of having some form of detection system, probably either an arch or a more mobile system like a detection wand, shortly before this incident. No final decision had been made.

I accept we cannot keep children and young adults entirely safe these days when weapons are carried so often, mainly for self-defence reasons. But should we at least make sure that our premises are “weapon-free zones”?

I was invited to carry out an independent review of this tragedy. I looked into current practice in YOTs. Some YOTs do have weapons detection systems but most do not. I understand that, nationwide, there are probably no more than 20 YOT bases that have such systems. No register is kept, so it is impossible to be sure.

This is a situation that seems completely out of step with the times in which we live. YOT workers are understandably concerned about the risks of stigmatising children by insisting on searches. I accept that searches, particularly if poorly handled, can hamper building a youth justice system that has trusting relationships at its heart and that will help children break away from offending.

But this issue is more than just about introducing searching. It is about making a statement that we will ensure our premises are safe, both for the children who attend and for the staff that work in them. The very statements that a base is a “weapon-free zone” is a powerful one. Try saying it the other way round: “You can bring your weapon if you want.”

The government and the Youth Justice Board appear reluctant to tell YOTs what to do on this. I understand their policy is not to dictate from Westminster, but this is an issue too important to allow practice to drift along, or to be driven by further tragedies. We need decisive action now.

H’s mother thinks this is a no-brainer. I agree with her.

• John Drew is a senior associate at the Prison Reform Trust and former chief executive of the Youth Justice Board