June 2, 2005: New Report on Children in Custody
The Howard League for Penal Reform has published a report on the desperate needs of children in penal custody and on release back into the community. The report, “Children In Custody: Promoting The Legal And Human Rights Of Children”, describes the establishment of the UK's first and only legal centre to promote the legal and human rights of individual children in custody. The Howard League set up the centre in 2003 following its successful judicial review against the Home Secretary for refusing to apply the 1989 Children Act to children in custody.
The report describes how the Howard League is working in the interests of the individual children to improve their conditions and treatment, but is also using legal challenges to improve the policies and practice in caring for all children in custody. This combination of individual legal casework, research and campaigns to further the cause of penal reform and children's legal and human rights is unique in the charitable sector. Howard League director Frances Crook commented:
"Thousands of children experience penal custody each year and their legal and human rights are breached daily. If the authorities treat children carelessly or cruelly they set a poor example that the children may replicate. These are desperate and demanding children who are likely to cause more hurt to themselves and to others if their needs are not met."
The report outlines the stories of 31 children who have been helped, including:
- 16 year old Jack phoned the Howard League from prison. He was a vulnerable boy who had suffered serious abuse by men close to him and took drugs to deaden his emotional pain. Jack was on a full care order so the local authority was, in effect, his parents. Yet, his local authority had failed to find him accommodation to enable the prison to release him in time for Christmas. On release he was simply put in a bed and breakfast with no support. The Howard League took judicial review proceedings and the high court judgment declared that a proper plan should always be prepared for children in care being released from custody and that support should be provided.
- 17 year old Sally had severe mental health problems and a history of neglect. She had been on suicide watch in prison and was deliberately injuring herself. She was held in virtual solitary confinement in prison for 3 weeks, eating her meals on her own and taking exercise in what amounted to a cage. The Howard League, acting as her solicitor, took judicial review proceedings and the judge found that child prisoners should be entitled to challenge the decision before being placed in segregation. The Home Secretary appealed and the case went to the Court of Appeal, which again found in the Howard League's favour.