Teenager hangs himself at prison
Posted: 21 September 2005 | Subscribe Online
A 17-year-old boy detained in Hindley young offender institution
died last week after hanging himself.
Sam Elphick was sent to the Wigan institution after being sentenced
in July at Manchester Crown Court to 22 months in prison for
robbery with affray.
He was the first juvenile to die at Hindley, but the second young
person to die this year in prison from a self-inflicted injury.
The prisons and probation ombudsman, Stephen Shaw, will conduct an
investigation into the death.
The Home Office said every death in custody was a "terrible
tragedy", and that it was "completely committed" to reducing the
number of deaths.
The news came as the Howard League for Penal Reform announced it
would shortly launch a major campaign to end the use of prison
custody for children.
