A report released yesterday into HMYOI Wetherby has raised serious concerns after it found high levels of self-harm within the institution, an overuse of pain-inducing restraint techniques by guards, and an incident which involved a girl being forcibly stripped by male officers.
The report, by the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, follows unannounced inspections of the prison in November and December 2023. HMYOI holds children with a range of needs, including some very vulnerable children on the Keppel Unit. Notably, Wetherby is also one of three different institutions that holds some of the seven girls currently imprisoned within England and Wales.
The report found that HMYOI Wetherby had the highest rates of self-harm across the country with there being ‘892 incidents’ last year. This was particularly troubling amongst girls at the institution who accounted for more than half the self-harm incidents in the last year.
Notably, the report discusses two incidents where a girl had sought to make a ligature from her clothing which had resulted in her having her clothes forcibly removed by male officers. This was described in the report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, as ‘simply not acceptable.’
The report also highlighted that officers at HMYOI Wetherby were overusing ‘pain-inducing restraint techniques,’ which are ‘not in accordance with national policy and were not properly authorised.’
In responding to the report, the Women in Prison and Agenda Alliance expressed deep concern that girls were subjected to forcible strip searches which were ‘tantamount to abuse.’ Indy Cross, CEO of Agenda Alliance, commented: ‘It is chilling to read that male guards at YOI Wetherby felt an appropriate response to a girl in such significant distress was to strip-search her as a group.’
In addition, Sonya Ruparel, CEO of Women in Prison commented that, ‘Reading that girls in prison have been subjected to “pain inducing techniques” and “strip searches under restraint” by those responsible for their care simply beggars belief. This is no way to treat some of the most disadvantaged girls in our society.’ She calls for a better approach to responding to girls who have been criminalised through an approach that recognises ‘gender specific, trauma informed support in their communities, not imprisonment and traumatisation.’
The report into HMYOI Wetherby feeds into wider concerns about the treatment of girls in custody. In their response to the report, the Howard League refers to recent statistics from the Ministry of Justice which reported that, whilst girls only account for 2% of the prison population, they accounted for ‘63% of all self-harm incidents recorded in the 12 months to September 2023.’ This equated to a finding that girls self-harmed on average 75.2 times per year, compared to 3.7 times for boys. They also discussed how force was being used disproportionately against girls in custody with 4,353.6 incidents of use of force per 100 girls, compared to 815.1 for boys.
Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, described the report as ‘devastating’ in revealing that ‘girls and boys in distress who need care and support are being hurt, violated and traumatised further in Wetherby prison.’ In light of the findings, which ‘raise significant safeguarding concerns and potential breaches of human rights,’ she calls for ministers to act swiftly to remove both girls and boys from the institution to ensure no more children are subjected to cruelty.
