Jonathan Beadle dies in Polmont a month after bill passed to stop under-18s being sent to prison
Thursday 18 July 2024 07:00 BST
A teenager has killed himself in one of Scotland’s only young offender detention centres, a month after a Holyrood bill came into force aimed at stopping under-18s being sent to prison.
Jonathan Beadle, 17, died at Polmont Young Offenders Institution near Falkirk on Saturday, the Scottish Prison Service confirmed. He is believed to have taken his own life. He had been convicted of offences including public disorder and had previously been held in a secure care unit.
His death comes five years after a major review of mental health services for young people in custody was carried out following a series of high-profile suicides, and as children’s rights campaigners said the Scottish government had been repeatedly warned that continuing to imprison children was putting lives at risk.
This year, a fatality inquiry was held following the deaths of Katie Allan, 20, and William Lindsey, 16, who were believed to have taken their own lives in Polmont in 2018 despite staff being alerted to their specific vulnerabilities.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “Every death, whether in custody or in our communities, is a tragedy for everyone who knew and supported the person. After a person dies in our custody, Police Scotland is informed and the matter is reported to the Procurator Fiscal.”
A fatal accident investigation is mandatory for all deaths in custody, although families of people who die in such circumstances regularly complain about the length of time it takes to conduct such investigations.
Katie Allan’s family, who have since conducted their own review of deaths in custody, believe the inquiries are “doomed to failure” and fail to hold the prison service to account for the rates of deaths in custody in Scotland, particularly among young prisoners.
Nicola Killean, Scotland’s children and young people’s commissioner, said the latest death was a tragedy. “Our thoughts are with their families and everyone who knew and cared for them. Prison is no place for a child,” she said.
She added that Jonathan’s case “reinforces the urgency” of implementing the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, which would see children under 18 no longer sent to prison, and which received royal assent last month.
Killean’s predecessor, Bruce Adamson, went further, saying: “Earlier this year, after years of campaigning, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation to stop this practice. It should have been implemented immediately. The Scottish Government has been repeatedly warned that continuing this practice violates children’s rights and puts their lives at risk.”
On Tuesday, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was incorporated into Scottish law, in a move its advocates say marks a new chapter in the relationship between young people and the state.
Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland, said that while Polmont had few children in custody and Scotland “should be proud of its record in reducing the number of children in custody”, the death of a child was “incredibly distressing”.
“This death in prison is particularly poignant since the Children’s Protection and Justice Bill was passed earlier this year and Scotland adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children should no longer be detained in prison but placed safely, if necessary, in secure care centres.”
Sinclair-Gieben stressed that substantial evidence suggested that young people had a greater capacity for rehabilitation. “Public safety would be best ensured by placing young people in safe service providers in Scotland who are better placed to deliver this service in a therapeutic environment,” she said.
Siobhian Brown, Scotland’s Minister for Victims and Community Safety, said the government was working with the Scottish Prison Service to end the placement of under-18s in young offender institutions and to ensure accommodation providers implement the provisions of the new law soon.
