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Young inmates have experienced high levels of force and unauthorised punishments at Brinsford Young Offender Institution, the chief inspector of prisons said in a report, writes Maria Ahmed.
 
The report, published on 19 July, found that there had been 255 incidents where staff had used physical restraint against inmates during 2004, and said there was “no evidence” that the incidents were being effectively monitored.
 
The chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers also raised concern over high numbers of allegations of abuse, both by young people and staff, and found that no anti-bullying policy was in place.

 
The report also found that young people at risk of self-harm or suicide were often stripped of their own clothes and required to wear tear-proof strip clothing for periods up to 24 hours, and that this had occurred 32 times in 2004 and nine times in 2005.
 
The report said “inappropriate” placing of vulnerable young people in strip-clothing contravened Prison Service practice and raised particular concern about whether young adults or children would be forcibly stripped if they refused to remove their own clothes.

Report at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk