NSPCC: End cruel treatment of children in custody

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Monday, 17, Mar 2008 12:00

The NSPCC is calling for a complete ban on painful ‘distraction’ techniques used to keep discipline among the 2800 children in custody in England and Wales.

The children’s charity is also urging the Government to restrict the use of physical restraint which was used on 4,904 (1) occasions in Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres in England and Wales between April and December last year, resulting in 154 injuries.

The call supports a recent report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights (2) which also said ‘distraction’ techniques should be abolished.

According to prison rules the use of force to restrain 12-17-year-olds in Secure Training Centres ‘must always be viewed as the final option’. But children in custody interviewed for the NSPCC see it as just part of custody life and say staff sometimes use it to teach them a lesson as well as to stop fights.

Teenage girls and boys held in detention have told the NSPCC (3) that Home Office approved restraint techniques, sometimes carried out by several staff, have occasionally resulted in broken arms, noses, wrists and fingers. The children also describe how rather than improving their behaviour ‘being hammered’ or ‘twisted-up’ often resulted in painful injuries and left them feeling angry, depressed and alone.

One said: “Aggression is all I know. Growing up on the streets, violence is all I know. I need to be taught how to get out of that – to be seen as angry but not aggressive. But being ‘twisted-up’ doesn’t teach you that.”

The views of the 19 young people are now being passed to an independent review (4) into restraining methods used in juvenile custody which is due to complete its report next month (April). The NSPCC is also calling on its 130,000 Partners in Campaigning to write to their MPs urging the government to ban ‘distraction’ techniques and restrict the use of physical restraint to only the most extreme circumstances.

Physical restraint generally involves trained staff holding a young person while a situation is calmed. In addition painful, or ‘distraction’ techniques can be used by officers. These include bending the thumb in towards the palm of the hand or pushing the knuckles into the back to put pressure on the ribs. A third method which involves pressing a hand hard under a child’s nose, is no longer allowed.

NSPCC director and chief executive, Dame Mary Marsh, said: “It’s a sad reflection that the children who spoke to us seem to think being restrained in a painful way is just part of life in custody and always will be. But some of these techniques are dangerous, violent, degrading, cruel and should not be used to keep discipline.

“The Joint Committee on Human Rights has called for the abolition of painful restraint and we agree. The use of physical restraint should also only be used in the most extreme circumstances and even then it should not cause pain. Many children will have suffered abuse or been caught-up in domestic violence before going into custody and research (5) has shown that nearly one in three has mental health problems. They need care not harsh treatment.

“Prison officers looking after these children have a difficult job which is why there should be adequate numbers of staff who have been properly trained to defuse difficult situations.

“We believe painful restraint is a breach of children’s human rights and if used elsewhere in society the adult involved could be guilty of assault and possibly face criminal charges.”

Detainees told the NSPCC how, after receiving warnings, a young boy or girl being restrained would have their arms and legs pinned before being held on the floor by staff. “They twist your arms behind you, bend your head forward, kick your legs behind your knees and put you on the floor,” said one.

One boy said he was restrained when an argument broke out after he was refused permission to see a doctor about stomach pains. He said he was later found to be suffering from appendicitis. Another told how during restraint a young person would be gripped in a headlock while an officer thrust his fingers up his nostrils and pulled tightly: “It would feel like they were going to pull your nose clean off,” he said.

There was an overwhelming view that restraint was not effective: “I’ve had my nose broken twice, doesn’t change anything for the future, may stop the situation but it doesn’t change anything. It just makes the person more violent,” said one.

And another said: “They bend back your arms and legs, twist your thumbs back. Sometimes I have seen people’s arms and thumbs get broken.”

The children interviewed for the NSPCC said they had encountered staff who were ‘good’, and tried to avoid using restraint by employing alternative tactics. They also accepted the need for it to be used as a last resort but were adamant it did nothing to help them control their tempers. And they felt restraint should never involve pain and should only be used to stop violence between children.

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Notes to Editors

(1) Restraint was used on 2633 occasions in Young Offenders’ Institutions; 2271 occasions in Secure Training Centres between April- December 2007. David Hanson, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, House of Commons, 26 February, 2008

(2) House of Lords House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights: The Use of Restraint in Secure Training Centres

(3)NSPCC Young People’s Consultation on Restraint.

(4)Independent Review of Restraint in Juvenile Secure Settings, being conducted by Andrew Williamson and Peter Smallridge

(5) “Mental Health Needs and Effectiveness of Provision for Young Offenders in Custody and in the Community”, Harrington/Bailey, 2005.”

About the NSPCC

The NSPCC is the UK’s leading children charity specialising in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children. The NSPCC’s purpose is to end cruelty to children FULL STOP. Its vision is of a society where all children are loved, valued and able to fulfil their potential. The NSPCC runs 180 projects and services across the United Kingdom and Channel Islands, including ChildLine, the UK’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people. The NSPCC helps over 10,000 children and their families every year.