We secured a settlement of £10,000 for false imprisonment in the case of a 14 year old child who was detained overnight in adult cells in 2015 at Lewisham police station. At the time he was a schoolchild. He was and remains of good character. The police arrived at his home suspecting adult members of his family of involvement in drug offences but simply arrested our child client along with everyone on the premises. No convictions arose out of the incident, of our client or any of his family members. Police guidance suggests children should not be placed overnight in adult cells without attempts being made to secure alternative secure accommodation and in any event arrest of a child should only be a measure of last resort after exhausting every alternative. We argued amongst other things in pre-action correspondence that this was in breach of the UKs own obligations under the UN Convention of Rights of the Child, which prohibits detention of children except as a ‘measure of last resort.’ We also suggested that it was relevant that he was a black child, who are more likely to be treated as adults. Despite the above guidance and the criminal justice systems supposed emphasis on child welfare, the systemic practice of detaining children in adult cells by police forces sadly continues.
After fighting the case for seven years, the police settled this matter two months before trial. Solicitor with conduct was Bhaskar Banerjee. Maya Sikand QC of Doughty Street Chambers was instructed.
GT Stewart is committed to advocating and fighting for the welfare and children and young people going through the criminal justice system.
