Huge rise in children being sent to prison

[NNN0LHI]

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=441021

New figures reveal that the number of under-18s being held in British jails has doubled in the past decade

By Sophie Goodchild, Home Affairs Correspondent
07 September 2003


Jessica was 15 when found guilty of shoplifting and sent to Holloway prison in London. For six weeks, she shared a cell with three women and was allowed to shower only a couple of times a week.

"The experience made me very depressed," said 18-year-old Jessica (not her real name), who lives in Norwich with her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

"I had no one to talk to and felt very threatened, very intimidated ... Teenage girls feel vulnerable and shouldn't be in adult prisons."

Every year thousands of children such as Jessica are locked up in British jails, secure training centres or young offender institutes. Many have been sexually abused, a high number exhibit signs of severe mental illness and more than half are already known by social services.

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[oldcoot]

1. When are we invading the UK?

Remember when supporters of the Iraqi war bragged about our troops "freeing" children from "Saddam's jail" (which turned out to be an orphanage)? I am sure that many of the same people who cared so much about those children in Iraq will be outraged to find out that the number of children in jail in the UK is increasing.

[dArKeR]

2. Bush would just bomb the jails. It would free the prisoners from their

sins! It's Bush's strength in leadership; ordering generals to kill people with little to no evidence. Not enough to even fulfill granting search warrants.