In the evening of 8 August, 2004, a 14-year-old boy was ordered to his room after giving cheek to an adult. He refused to go to his room. The boy was found hanged after the staff, who take care of young children who took a wrong turn in life, at Hassockfield Secure Training Centre (STC) used physical force to restrain him. In his suicide note he wrote: “What right have they got to hit a child?” The jury in the first inquest into Adam’s death, in 2007, were not allowed to consider whether the force used on the boy was lawful. They used a ‘nose distraction’ technique to the boy, a sharp blow to his nose, and is now banned in STCs. Adam is not the only one who died, thirty children have met their deaths in custody since 1990, when decides the state that there must be a better way of dealing with damaged children? There is little hope for change because Hassockfield revealed that 21 children had sustained injuries while being restrained. Eric Allison said: “and despair that we allow such damaged children to suffer the kind of treatment to which we would not dream of subjecting our own children.”
My reaction:
The reason why this boy was into custody is unknown but he surely was not there for no reason. Anyway, the staff should not treat children like that. These kids are already damaged and now they have to suffer more instead to be lead and shown the right way. I hope that the state took some measures against this violence and made sure that this will be prevented by hiring the right personnel, who are educated to work in these centres, and that the rules are sharpened and that they have more intense programmes for children with problems to help them through.
I was very shocked when I read this news. I agree with you that the boy is staying in custody for a reason. But they should not treat children like that. I also it is old-fashioned that they used the ‘nose distraction’ technique. I think this is a very old technique and it is good that they banned this in STCs.
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