Plan to remove under-18s from prisons must be expedited, chief inspector urges

Wendy Sinclair-Gieben voiced concern about the treatment of youngsters behind bars.

The survey found a majority of child inmates have been strip-searched (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)

Scotland’s chief inspector of prisons has led calls for no-one under the age of 18 to be sent to jail.

Wendy Sinclair-Gieben is hoping for legislation to be implemented that would bring an end to the imprisonment of 16 and 17-year-olds by the end of this month.

She said Covid-19 placed a spotlight on children and young people in prison, with their treatment and conditions comparable to the adult population’s extreme restrictions and in stark contrast to the regime that children held in the secure care estate experienced.

She said while the Scottish Government is committed to removing children under 18 from the prison estate, “it’s not expediting it fast enough”.

In her proposal to Scottish ministers, she said the way in which children are prosecuted and imprisoned in Scotland – especially when they have not yet been convicted – is a breach of their human rights.

Most of them said they were locked up 22 hours a day

Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, chief inspector of prisons

She spoke to the PA news agency about a recent survey of a small number of 16 and 17-year olds in HMP YOI Polmont, the largest young offenders institution in Scotland, and described the results as “shocking.”

The survey found 83% of children in Polmont had been strip-searched, 42% had been isolated for punishment, and 27% had been physically restrained.

“Most of them said they were locked up 22 hours a day,” Ms Sinclair-Gieben said.

Inmates under the age of 21 are usually sent to a young offenders institution until they are old enough for an adult prison.

The chief inspector said even though Polmont is doing its job, and prisoners said staff help them feel calm and they feel safe, it is still being run as a prison, with the same restrictions as adult institutions.

“When you’re applying the pandemic guidance by Public Health Scotland, they are applying it to young people as well as to adults, without an impact assessment for young people.

“It’s very worrying.”

Ms Sinclair-Gieben said the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that children must not be deprived of their liberty unless they pose a serious and imminent risk of harm to themselves or others.

However, in Scotland children are known to be incarcerated in YOIs, either on remand or after sentencing, where this is not the case, she said.

She called for the Scottish Government to directly fund places in secure accommodation instead.

“We must change the perception that people under 18 have to go to prison because their crimes are so offensive,” Ms Sinclair Gieben added.

“Secure care systems manage people with violent, challenging behaviour extremely well and we need to allow them to do it.

“Scotland must grasp the opportunity and expedite its plans to remove the remaining small number of children from prison entirely.”

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Bruce Adamson echoed her calls, and said the change has been “long overdue”.

He said most of the young people in Polmont are not convicted of the most serious crimes, and of the 14 currently there, 10 are still awaiting sentencing.

But he said even those under 18 who commit the most serious crimes should not go to prison.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland, Mr Adamson said: “If we were to look at the most serious issues, so children who have caused serious harm to others, we need to look at the best way of addressing that harm and making sure it doesn’t happen again

“Early and effective trauma-informed, community-based interventions work best in the securing against non-repetition.

“Putting a child or a young person in a prison environment increases the risk that they may go on to harm others, and so the secure system provides a much better way to ensure the underlying issues are addressed there.”

The Scottish Government commits to addressing the proposal by 2024, but Mr Adamson said that is not soon enough.

“One of the really frustrating things is the Government agrees and everyone across the justice system agrees that we need to make this change, and by 2024 hundreds more children may experience life in prison,” he said.

“That’s why we need urgent and immediate action. Reassurance the change will come isn’t enough.”

Organisations including the Children’s and Young People’s Centre for Justice and Community Justice Scotland have also pushed ministers for the change.