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News Archives: Index

October 7, 2010: Probation Set For Industrial Action

October 5, 2010: Turning Prisoners Into Taxpayers

October 4, 2010: Murder Changes Now In Force

September 20, 2010: Probation Programmes Face Cuts

August 24, 2010: Victorian Poor Law Records Online

August 10, 2010: Justice Job Cuts

July 28, 2010: Prison Violence Growing

July 22, 2010: Police Numbers: Latest Figures

July 22, 2010: New Jurisdiction Rules

July 16, 2010: CCJS On Prison And Probation Spending Under Labour

July 15, 2010: Latest Statistics On Violent And Sexual Crime

July 15, 2010: Latest National Crime Figures

July 15, 2010: New Chief Prisons Inspector

July 14, 2010: Hard Times Ahead For Prisons: Anne Owers

July 14, 2010: Prison Does Not Work: Ken Clarke

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform: Sentencing and Rehabilitation

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform Priorities

July 12, 2010: What Price Public Protection, Asks Probation Chief Inspector

July 12, 2010: NOMS has failed, says Napo

July 10, 2010: IPCC To Investigate Death of Raoul Moat

July 9, 2010: Women In Prison: New Report

July 9, 2009: Unjust Deserts: Imprisonment for Public Protection

July 8, 2010: Police Search Powers Change

July 7, 2010: Make 'Legal High' Illegal, Says ACMD

July 2, 2010: Failing Children In Prison

July 2, 2010: Police Buried Under a Blizzard of Guidance: HMIC

July 1, 2010: Freedom To Change The Law?

June 30, 2010: A New Outlook On Penal Reform?

June 30, 2010: Revolving Door Of Offending Must Stop, Says Clarke

June 30, 2010: Ken Clarke: Speech on Criminal Justice Reform

June 29, 2010: No More Police Targets

June 26, 2010: Family Intervention Projects Questioned

June 25, 2010: Cutting Criminal Justice

June 24, 2010: Napo on Sex Offenders Report

June 23, 2010: Closing Courts: The Cuts Begin

June 23, 2010: Strategy To Tackle Gangs

June 15, 2010: Courts and Mentally Disordered Offenders

June 8, 2010: Working With Muslims in Prison

June 1, 2010: Your Chance To Nominate a QC

December 19, 2005: Child's Death In Custody: No Corporate Manslaughter Charges

The Howard League for Penal Reform has condemned the decision not to bring charges against the company running the child jail where 15 year old Gareth Myatt died whilst being restrained by staff. The charity said that whilst corporate manslaughter was a notoriously difficult charge to bring, nevertheless, it was in the public interest to air the issues around a child's death in the custody of a private company in the arena of a court of law.

Gareth Myatt died in Rainsbrook secure training centre in April 2004. The Howard League asked Lord Carlile QC to conduct an independent Inquiry into the use of restraint, solitary confinement and strip searching of children in custody and the Inquiry team visited 3 of the 4 secure training centres: Rainsbrook, Hassockfield and Oakhill.

The decision not to take any action comes one week after publication of a damning inspection report into Oakhill secure training centres. It drew attention to failures around the use of physical restraint on children as well as raising serious concerns about failures in child protection, for example the fact that staff could watch children having a shower.

Howard League director Frances Crook said:

"Private companies that are prepared to make a profit out of locking up young children should be held to account when a child dies whilst being restrained by their staff."