Almost 900 weapons were seized in one year from children detained in a young offender institution in the north of England, a prisons watchdog has found.
In its annual report published on Friday into HM young offender institution Wetherby in West Yorkshire, the institution’s independent monitoring board found that children were in possession of a range of improvised weapons. The children told IMB they carried the weapons because they felt unsafe behind bars.
In the report, Catherine Porter, the monitoring board’s chair, said: “Wetherby continues to hold a small but challenging cohort of young people. With 893 weapons found during the reporting year, violence for some appears to be a way of life.”
“This can be seen in the establishment on a daily basis with many making and carrying weapons for their own protection. However, a new governor was appointed in May 2024 and the board is optimistic that the long overdue improvements can at last be implemented,” she added.
The weapons were seized from children aged 15-18 between September 2023 and August 2024. The weapons included sharpened objects, rocks and deodorant cans contained in socks.
Both children and adults sustained injuries as a result of restraint. Over the year, 1,143 restraint incidents were recorded, with 17 incidents where pain-inducing techniques were used, particularly against girls. There were 222 assaults on staff, and 66 needed to attend A&E as a result.
Some of the children held in the YOI had been charged with or remanded for serious crimes, including 38 children charged with or remanded on murder or manslaughter charges. At any one time, an average of 150 children are held in HMYOI Wetherby.
In the course of the year, there were 10 serious incidents of violence, some overseen at national level by the national tactical response group.
The report found that education had also been a cause for concern, with 12,500 hours lost due to cancelled teaching sessions. After a critical report from Ofsted and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons about educational provision, the Youth Custody Service issued a notice that Wetherby had to improve, because of its lack of progress.
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Wetherby hit the headlines last year after an HMIP report revealed that a vulnerable girl was pinned down and strip-searched by an all-male group of officers on at least two occasions. The report said that as a result of the HMIP report, staff were subjected to “unacceptable” levels of abuse on social media.
A Youth Custody Service spokesperson said: “The safety of children and staff is our top priority. As this report recognises, our enhanced search procedures and vigilant staff are proving successful in detecting weapons before they can be used.”
Article by:Source Diane Taylor
