Investigation into the Failing of Medomsley Detention Centre

The first is that it is still not a requirement for every child in detention to be proactively, and regularly, asked by an independent party about their custody experience seen through a safeguarding lens. If the right environment was created and they were conducted by suitably trained, trauma-informed professionals, these conversations would provide a degree of reassurance to families and all interested parties, along with building public confidence in the criminal justice system. The number of children in custodial detention is such that the resource required to achieve this annually, or even more frequently, would be extremely small.

The second is around the complaints process for children in custody. I have made a notable observation that the system for children to make a complaint in today’s criminal justice system remains broadly the same as the system in place when Medomsley operated. To make a complaint, children must write to the governor, or the establishment. Some children have low literacy skills or will fear the reprisal of doing so. From the complaint investigation work my office carries out, I know that children are more likely to disclose their feelings and experiences to people they know. It remains the case today that family members or trusted people cannot make a complaint on behalf of someone in prison.

The third is that despite criminal convictions, civil cases and compensation paid to the victims of Medomsley, none of them have ever received a public apology. If I were to recommend that any party should do so, then victims would, justifiably, view any subsequent public statements as forced and therefore hollow. I leave it to all of the bodies referenced in this investigation to examine their organisational consciences and determine if there is any action taken today that would diminish, even fractionally, the trauma that is still being felt by victims.