Tag: Custody

HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), have conducted surveys of children detained in Secure Training Centres and Young Offender Institutions.

The Court of Appeal held that holding a 15 year old in solitary confinement for 8 weeks was not a breach of his Article 3 ECHR right not to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Home Office has published a concordat on children in custody, preventing the detention of children in police stations following charge. The concordat aims to clarify the legal and statutory duties of the police and local authorities. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 requires the transfer of children who have been charged and denied bail to more appropriate Local Authority accommodation, with a related duty in the Children Act 1989 for Local Authorities to accept these transfers.

R v H [2016] EWCA Crim 2064 The Court of Appeal ruled that a sentencing judge had imposed an excessive sentence on a child, H. This case reinforces the special status of children in the criminal justice process and particularly when they come to be sentenced

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has published its response to the Laming Review on keeping children in care out of trouble.

B v Leeds Crown Court and another [2016] EWHC 1230 (Admin) In this successful case stated, the High Court confirmed it is unlawful to impose a longer sentence on a child than the maximum sentence available for an adult in similar circumstances. The case reaffirms the principle in the Overarching Principles for Sentencing Youths that generally a child should be dealt with less severely than an adult offender.

The Prison Reform Trust's independent review chaired by Lord Laming has found that children in care are six times more likely than other young people to be cautioned or convicted of a crime.

In January 2016, BBC Panorama revealed serious mistreatment of children at the G4S run Medway Secure Training Centre (STC). In response, the Secretary of State for Justice created an Independent Improvement Board for Medway.

Revised version of NAAN framework for transfers of children from police stations to local authority accommodation.

The Children's Commissioner has published a discussion paper on children in custody in England - Unlocking Potential: A Study of the Isolation of Children in Custody in England (October 2015, Children's Commissioner).