Young inmates locked up for 23 hours

ONE out of every four inmates at the national institution for young offenders have to be locked up alone for 23 hours a day to protect them from other residents.

The chaplain’s report for 2010 has confirmed that a significant number of 16 to 21-year-olds housed at St Patrick’s Institution are at real risk of “psychological and emotional damage” because of the situation they face at such a young age.

According to the document, one in four of the 200-plus residents at the juvenile jail site have to be protected from other inmates due to internal and external difficulties ranging from small matters like stealing cigarettes to larger problems such as gang affiliation.

As a result, at a time when they are undergoing “a very significant developmental stage in their lives” these inmates can only access educational services for two hours a week and “have little to do except watch television”.

The document also noted that the facility, which the Government-commissioned Whittaker report recommended for closure in the mid-1980s, is “unsafe” for both staff and inmates due to overcrowding levels.

It said the imprisoning of under-18s alongside other residents as old as 21 broke the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In its most worrying conclusion, it said the institution does not have to conform to regulations put in place to ensure the safety of children in state care.

These recommendations include: ensuring all staff have a relevant childcare qualification; being open to unnanounced inspections; a social worker for every child housed and a child’s right to direct access to the Ombudsman for Children.

In addition, the Ombudsman is “explicitly prohibited” from investigating complaints or allegations by young people residing in St Patrick’s Institution, the report warned.