Vulnerable girl at risk of self-harm restrained and stripped twice by male prison officers, report finds

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said he was “deeply shocked” at the findings, which revealed the “incredibly vulnerable” child prisoner had been restrained and had her clothes removed by “multiple men” on two occasions at Wetherby young offenders institution in West Yorkshire. open image in gallery Wetherby Young Offenders Institution, which houses ‘very vulnerable’ young people Inspectors said that long periods locked alone in cells was not meeting “the needs of these very vulnerable girls”. “While they no doubt acted to prevent serious harm, the presence of multiple men pinning her down and removing her clothes will have caused further trauma and, given how predictable the behaviour of this particular girl was, the YOI has no excuse not to have made sure that female officers were in attendance.” During the inspection, carried out in November and December last year, wider concerns about how often child inmates were being strip-searched while being restrained and the use of force against them were also raised. Mr Taylor said it was a credit to the prison’s governor that “most relationships between staff and children were relatively positive compared with other YOIs”, but added: “It was scarcely credible in a jail holding just 165 children with 24 senior managers and 67 other managers that leaders told us they could not give children frequent, structured contact with staff because of a shortage of officers.” Campbell Robb, chief executive of social justice charity Nacro, branded the findings “disturbing” and said the conditions are not how “any child should be treated in a civilised society, whatever they have done in the past”.