Young offenders' jail condemned

Thursday 10 July 1997 23:02 BST

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Conditions for young offenders are so bad at one jail that they may be breaking the United Nations minimum standards for children, according to the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Sir David Ramsbotham also attacked the general treatment of young offenders in jail describing them as "appalling and 19th-century". His comments in a report published yesterday follow an inspection of Chelmsford jail in Essex, which houses a mixture of unconvicted and convicted young offenders aged 17 to 21, as well as adult prisoners. There are about 100 young offenders and more than 300 adults held in the prison. Jason Bennetto

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