Fears over self-harm in STC’s

Campaigners have raised concerns over the detention of young
offenders in secure training centres after figures showed a rise in
self-harm incidents, writes Maria
Ahmed.

Medway recorded the highest number of self-harm incidents in
STCs last year, with 219 compared to just 49 in 2001, according to
a parliamentary written answer.

Hassockfield STC recorded 138 self-harm incidents in 2004,
compared to 70 at Rainsbrook STC and 29 at Oakhill STC, which
opened in August last year.

Enver Solomon, head of policy and research at charity Revolving
Doors, said the figures showed the centres were “failing to
provide vulnerable young people with the support they
need”.

Private companies GSL UK, which runs Medway and Rainsbrook, and
Serco, which runs Hassockfield, said the high figures were a result
of a more detailed recording system brought in last year.

Medway and Hassockfield each dismissed four staff from 2003 to
this year, including one case where a member of staff failed to
complete suicide and self-harm watches.

This was compared to one dismissal at Rainsbrook in 2003 and one
at Oakhill this year.

• The Home Office will extend the duty of the Prisons and
Probation Ombudsman to investigate deaths in secure training
centres, as part of a new bill in the autumn.

 

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