Calls To End ‘Inhumane’ Treatment Of North Yorkshire Teenage Convicts

The Minister for Justice is facing calls to end the “inhumane” transportation of young offenders after a committee heard some teenage convicts had to be “driven around the country” while they waited for someone to be available to process them.

North Yorkshire County Council’s corporate and partnerships scrutiny committee heard while the HM Inspectorate of Probation was due to give the county’s Youth Justice Service a good rating later this week following an inspection, members of the committee remained alarmed after visiting young offenders and other prisoners while examining if the system could be improved.

Councillor Derek Bastiman, chairman of the committee and a former leader of Scarborough Borough Council, said members had the disturbing sight and sound of boys aged 15 to 17 rattling metal cups and dishes against the bars etched on their memories from when they visited Wetherby Young Offenders Institute, which houses convicts from across the north of England.

He said:

“It is something that you see on TV, but you don’t want to see it at a young offenders institute. A number of the members were very disturbed and upset by this.”

The committee said “eye-opening” chats with young prisoners revealed they were being locked up in their cells for longer than was necessary due to a lack of staff. Cllr Bastiman said:

“The staff there were doing a great job, but they were restricted on what they could do.”

While HM Prisons and Probation Service states “Wetherby is committed to providing a safe, decent and educational environment where young people are encouraged and cared for by professional staff”, Cllr Bastiman said councillors had been shocked to discover a lack of educational opportunities on its visits to other jails in the region, such as Kirklevington Grange, Yarm.

Cllr Bastiman said:

“These people are there for a reason, but because someone is there doesn’t mean they should be devoid of good educational opportunities. That may be why they are there.

“If someone is sentenced at 10am, they may be carted half way around the country while other offenders are getting dealt with and not given comfort breaks. It’s not uncommon for prisoners not to arrive at places like Wetherby Young Offenders Institute until 3am. This is a totally inhumane way of treating people, irrespective of what they have done.”

Despite the prisons service telling the committee it would make improvements, the committee did not believe these would happen overnight and approved a move to write to the minister calling for urgent action at the institute, including launching a 24-hour reception service.

The Ministry of Justice said a new prisoner escort vehicle contract came in on September 1, which has a new, increased fleet of vehicles with better seating and safety features, more non-cellular smaller vehicles, comfort breaks every two hours, time limits to enable faster pick up, and a maximum of three hours spent by prisoners in vans after court.

A spokesperson for the ministry said:

“We are making prisoner transport safer, decent and more secure, with new vehicles and a three-hour limit on time spent in vans after court. We will also respond to the letter once received.”