In response to the Chief Inspector’s report on HMYOI Ashfield, the Prison Reform Trust called on the Ministry of Justice to end the routine strip-searching of children in custody. According to government figures, one in four boys in custody has experienced violence at home and one in twenty has been sexually abused.

Commenting, Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “Routine strip-searching of vulnerable boys is unjustified, cruel and abusive in itself.”

Following Baroness Corston’s review a halt has been called to routine strip-searching of women and girls in custody with no negative impact on prison safety and security.

Use of force at Ashfield was found to be “extremely high” and increasing. Use of adjudications was “exceptionally high”, and there were on average 45 fights every month. Strip-searching was the norm, rather than the exception, with 480 searches conducted in one month alone, despite no evidence that they led to the recovery of illicit items.

Commenting further Juliet Lyon said:  “If they are to turn around the lives of the teenagers entrusted into their care, staff working with this challenging age group must be equipped with the skills needed to manage difficult behaviour effectively without recourse to punitive sanctions and physical force."

“The survey of boys paints a bleak, familiar picture of the children and teenagers we lock up; nearly a third had a history of being in care; a third had emotional or mental health problems, and a similar proportion reported having problems with drugs when they first arrived. More than one in eight were parents themselves. Despite the importance of maintaining links with family and friends, one in three boys received no visits at all.”

To read the full report click here.