Four in 10 children in custody victimised by staff

More than four in 10 young people in custody say they have suffered victimisation by staff, including sexual assaults, physical abuse and threats, according to a survey by the prisons inspectorate. The report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons found widespread variation across secure units and that black and minority ethnic (BAME) young people are more likely to be victimised by staff. It found that 32 per cent of children in Medway Secure Training Centre (STC) said they had been victimised by staff while more than half (53 per cent) of children at Feltham Young Offender Institute (YOI) reported such incidents. Across the youth secure estate 42 per cent of children and young people had been victimised by staff, says the report which looked at 12- to 18-year-olds’ experience of custody during 2018/19. The most common form of victimisation by staff was verbally abusing children, cited by a third of victims. Read more.