WEST Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox this week backed a national charity's call for an end to painful 'distraction techniques' used on children in custody. The NSPCC is urging the government to ban such practices as jabbing a child on the nose and restrict the use of physical restraint to only the most extreme circumstances. Physical restraint was used on almost 5,000 occasions in young offender institutions and secure training centres in England and Wales between April and December last year, resulting in 154 injuries including loss of consciousness and damage to internal organs. MP Geoffrey Cox, speaking on a panel at a parliamentary meeting held by the NSPCC, said: 'If these pain restraint techniques apparently approved in youth custody were used by an adult on a child in any home, school or other setting, they would probably be treated as assault. 'Any type of physical restraint of children should be used only when absolutely unavoidable and even then, it should not unnecessarily cause pain or injury. 'Many children will have suffered abuse or been caught up in domestic violence before going into custody. 'They will often need firm care and discipline but not harsh treatment. 'Prison officers looking after these children have a difficult job, which is why it is essential there should be adequate numbers of properly trained staff to defuse difficult situations.' According to prison rules, the use of force to restrain 12 to 17 year olds in secure training centres 'must always be viewed as the final option'. However, children in custody interviewed for the NSPCC see it as just part of routine custody life and say staff sometimes use it as a punishment, as well as to stop fights.
