Editorial Comment: A measure of restraint

The independent review of restraint is not going to be easy because of “diametrically opposing advice from across the field”, says Youth Justice Board interim chair Graham Robb.

But the only advice the review should take on board is that restraint can only be justified when a young person risks harming themselves or others or is attempting to escape.

In the same breath, Robb says there has been a reduction in the use of restraint in child prisons since 2006. You would hope so, given that restraint procedures were a factor in the deaths of two young offenders in the two years before then.

Until staff are trained in techniques that are truly safe and are clear when they should be used, young people risk being assaulted, or even killed, in our justice system.

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 Natalie Valios