Young inmates in UK's jails

About 1 in 7 people in institutions in England and Wales is under 21

Inmates aged from 15 to 20 account for about 15% of the jail population in England and Wales.

In February this year, there were 11,028 detainees in this age group - 8,550 who had been sentenced and 2,394 who were on remand.

Of this number, 594 were females - 147 of whom were on remand.

Segregation

Young people are housed in young offenders' institutions, such as Feltham in Middlesex, or young offender wings within "adult" jails.

Some institutions simply hold "juveniles" - those aged under 18, while some house 18 to 20-year-olds alone.

Mixing is trickier in the vulnerable prisoner situation than it is in the normal location Prison Reform Trust spokesman

Other places have both groups, but segregate them.

But situations can arise where prisoners under 21 come into contact with those over this age in adult jails.

For instance, figures show that there are, at any one time, about 100 16- and 17-year-old girls sharing prison custody with adult women in England and Wales.

This is despite a government pledge more than three years ago to end this practice.

Male inmates aged 18-20 Remand 1,835 Sentenced 6,278 Source: Prison Service

The Prison Reform Trust sees a situation where a few older inmates are housed among younger detainees as potentially less serious than the situation where older prisoners outnumber the younger.

"The context of numbers plays a big part in this," said a trust spokesman.

However, the problem can be exacerbated when younger prisoners seen as under threat for some reason come into contact with older ones in vulnerable prisoner units.

Female inmates aged 18-20 Remand 134 Sentenced 351 Source: Prison Service

"What do you do when you have a normal 'everyday' young prisoner - perhaps with a drug debt - who is at risk of being assaulted?" said the Trust spokesman.

"It strikes me as almost a given that mixing is trickier in vulnerable prisoner situations than it is in normal location."

The Prison Service says some young adults at Holme House on Teesside were put in the vulnerable prisoner wing because it would have been unacceptable to put unsentenced prisoners in the segregation area, the only alternative.

It points out that young offenders are legally adults so there are no child protection issues with the 18 to 20 age group.

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