Surge in staff put in hospital by inmates at youth lock-up

STAFF at an ‘unsafe’ youth detention centre have been left in hospital following a surge in attacks, a damning report has revealed.

Employees have suffered serious assaults at the hands of young inmates aged 12 to 18 at the G4S-run institution.

In one incident at the Oakhill Secure Training Centre near Milton Keynes, an officer suffered horrendous injuries after being attacked by detainees on a football pitch, and the watchdog said children were carrying improvised weapons because they do not feel safe.

Inspectors rated the institution as ‘inadequate’, and said: ‘There is no evidence that staff can ... care [for] and control this volume of young people.’

It was visited by Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the Care Quality Commission for two weeks in September.

Inspectors found an increase in assaults since they last visited in January. Between March and August 2017, there were 330 assaults on staff and detainees, compared with 200 in the period between July and December 2016. G4S said it was ‘taking a number of urgent actions’ to address the issues.