Prisoner, 16, wins human rights fight

A TEENAGE criminal who repeatedly assaulted prison officers should not have been held in prolonged solitary confinement because it breached his human rights, the High Court has ruled.

The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified, was detained at Feltham Young Offenders Institution in west London last December and kept in isolation for “almost the entirety of his time” until April.

Dan Squires, his QC, said that for “much of the time”, the teenager was locked up alone for some 23-and-a-half hours a day.

Mr Justice Ouseley granted a declaration that his Article 8 rights – the right to private and family life – had been breached. He rejected a claim that his treatment amounted to a breach of human rights laws which prohibit torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The boy, due for release this month, has a history of assaulting prison staff and making “racist taunts” and “poses a very real risk to the good order or discipline” at Feltham, it was claimed.

The judicial review was brought on behalf of the boy, who had a very difficult childhood and is described as having “significant” mental health problems, by the Howard League for Penal Reform.

Frances Crook, its chief executive, said: “This is an important judgment.”