Cookham Wood YOI: Assaults rise by 70% in two years, report says

Inspectors said morale among staff was low at HMYOI Cookham Wood

Violent assaults at a young offenders' institution have increased by 70% since 2019, a report says.

There were serious incidents and attacks by groups on individuals at HMYOI Cookham Wood, in Kent, it added.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons said violence in the last 12 months had resulted in 49 injuries and 29 admissions to hospital.

The Ministry of Justice said "immediate action was being taken to drive improvement" at the prison.

An unannounced inspection in August found that previous concerns raised in December 2019 about behaviour and conditions at the institution had not been fixed.

It was judged as still "not sufficiently good" for safety, care, and resettlement, and meaningful activity for inmates was rated "poor".

An increase in assaults on staff was also noted.

Staff did not engage with children and lacked energy and creativity, the report found

Inspectors described the inability to address previous failings as "completely unacceptable".

The report said the amount of time children could spend out of their cells was poor - about four-and-a-half hours a day on weekdays and two hours at weekends.

Children were also found to not have enough hours of education, with many receiving much less than the maximum 12 hours of classes a week.

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said: "We found low morale among staff, low standards, low expectations and a lack of energy and creativity that could engage and motivate children to use their time at Cookham Wood usefully."

Since the inspection two years ago, the report noted self-harming had decreased significantly, use of force against children had reduced, child safeguarding practices were good, and more children said they felt respected and well cared for by staff.

At the last inspection in the summer, 87 boys aged 15-18 were held at Cookham Wood, less than half its capacity.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the findings were in line with what the charity had seen through its legal work, describing the environment as "toxic" and "no place for a child".

A youth custody service spokesperson at the Ministry of Justice said: "Access to education and time out of cells will increase as we lift the remaining pandemic restrictions, which saved thousands of lives.

"But we are taking further immediate action to drive improvement at Cookham Wood - recruiting more staff, reducing capacity, refurbishing the building and improving support for vulnerable prisoners."

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