Coroner tells Jack Straw to act now on the use of restraint in child prisons

Coroner tells Straw to act now on restraint in child prisons - Guardian

Extract:

"The coroner who presided over the inquest into the death of a 15-year-old who died after being restrained in a child jail has warned the justice secretary, Jack Straw, that it would be "wholly unforgivable" if the lessons were delayed by a general review of the use of restraint announced yesterday.

The retired judge, Richard Pollard, who presided over the inquest into the death of Gareth Myatt, the youngest person to die in custody, sent a 17-page letter to Mr Straw yesterday detailing 34 recommendations needed to prevent similar deaths happening in the network of privately-run secure training centres that hold the most persistent teenage offenders in the country.

He believes the changes should be made immediately, but in the face of a potential Lords defeat over new regulations widening the circumstances in which restraint can be used by staff in child jails ministers last night announced a joint review of the issue, not only in STCs but also in young offender institutions and local authority secure units."