Child’s treatment in prison declared unlawful
Treatment of a child in a London prison has been deemed unlawful
A boy who was isolated in his cell for months on end in a London prison was treated unlawfully because he was denied sufficient access to education, the High Court ruled on 4 July. As reported in the Friend on 17 March, the boy spent more than 100 days isolated from his peers and was deprived of adequate education. The child, identified in court documents as ‘AB’, was locked in his cell for over twenty-two hours a day for more than fifteen days at a stretch.
While the court did not deem the detention in isolation to be degrading and inhuman treatment, it declared that the failure to provide AB with adequate education was unlawful, because the prison failed to comply with its own rules around the removal of children from the usual regime in prison. These rules, known as the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000, impose a range of safeguards and procedures to be put in place in light of the risks associated with isolation.
AB is represented by the legal team of the Howard League for Penal Reform. Frances Crook, its chief executive, said: ‘This is an important judgment. The court has declared this boy’s isolation for certain periods and the denial of adequate education unlawful… It is disappointing that the court stopped short of accepting that keeping AB in isolation for over twenty-two hours a day was degrading and inhuman treatment. We will be seeking to appeal this part of the ruling.’
