PEPPER spray will be used on children as young as 15 in young offender institutions to curb a surge in violence.
Specially trained prison officers will be allowed to use PAVA, a synthetic pepper spray, in youth custody.
Assaults on staff are 14 times higher in teen prisons, which currently house around 400 offenders, than in the adult estate.
About two thirds of the young offenders are locked up for violent offences such as murder, attempted murder, or grievous bodily harm.
A senior youth custody source told The Sun that PAVA, which is already in use in adult prisons, would only be used as a “last resort tactic” where there is a threat to life.
Prison officers working in the five YOIs in the country say they are faced with incidents involving boys who are “physiologically the same size as adults” but restricted by how they can intervene.
There were 534 assaults in youth custody between October and December last year, of which 42 were serious.
In one prison, a boy was cornered by a gang of other inmates and stamped on repeatedly while a female prison guard attempted to use her body to shield him.
Other incidents have included young boys using makeshift weapons to stab each other.
A source told The Sun: “We’ve seen a change with young people coming in who have a readiness to turn to weapons.”
GettyPepper spray will be used on children as young as 15 in young offender institutions[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
