Appeals Court throws out New Labour's shameful attempt to justify abuse of children in Secure Training Centres

Following some criticism by the coroner in the Gareth Myatt inquest the government took the entirely shameful approach to the problem of the excessive use of physical restraint in Secure Training Centres of expanding the situations in which it could lawfully be used to include allowing children to be retrained to maintain 'good order and discipline'. That is rather than tackle the problem and find ways to reduce the use of restraint the government tried to leglislate, through a statutory instrument (that is without a debate in parliament), to cover itself in all eventualities and give staff carte blance to drag children around, apply joint locks and generally humilate them at will - without legal protection.

The Appeals Court today found this to be unlawful and the Home Office will now have to rethink its strategy. This is the second time that New Labour's anti-child leglislation has come a cropper in the courts; previously the High Court found that it was not lawful for the police to drag children into cars and take them home if they were out after 9pm in a dispersal zone. In both cases the Courts have had to point out to New Labour that children have legal rights.

The YRUK article linked below has all the details on the original leglislation including links to the Statutory Instrument.

Links

Guardian Newspaper
Inquest
YRUK
Childrens' Legal Centre at University of Essex