Kent Police: Children 'inappropriately' held in custody

Inspectors said children had been "unnecessarily" held at police stations overnight

Children are being "inappropriately" held at police stations in Kent for long periods of time, a watchdog has found.

Inspectors said Kent Police broadly provided a "good service" to children.

But they called for improvements in several areas, including the way young suspects were handled in custody.

Children were being held at police stations "unnecessarily" overnight when they should be put up by the council in safe accommodation, a report said.

Inspector Zoe Billingham, from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, said Kent Police had a "really strong commitment to making sure children are well served by the police".

But she said that improvement could be made in seven areas, including "how children in domestic abuse incidents are looked after".

She added that there should be "better supervision of the case files", with plans in place for when vulnerable children go missing.

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Ayling said Kent Police were "highly focused on child protection"

The inspectorate said an immediate review should take place to ensure its management of children in police detention is appropriate.

It said that "insufficient action" had been taken by senior officers to engage with councils about the lack of suitable alternative accommodation.

"Consequently, children continue to be detained unnecessarily overnight in police custody," the report said.

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Ayling said Kent Police was "highly focused on child protection," and the report recognised "the excellent work in the force and the commitment of the force's leadership to protecting children".

He said the force had raised several "areas for improvement" around child protection with the inspectorate in December 2017, and that "significant improvements" had now been made.

He added that "good progress" had been made to meeting the inspector's recommended improvements.