MTCnovo takes over the running of Rainsbrook secure training centre, in Northamptonshire, today (5 May). This is a prison for children aged 12 to 17 years. The contract to run Rainsbrook was formerly held by the multinational G4S, which ran the prison from 1999. In April 2004, 15 year-old Gareth Myatt died after being restrained … Read more
An Ofsted inspection of Rainsbrook secure training centre, which detains children between the ages of 12 and 17, as well as some 18 year-olds, has concluded it “requires improvement”. The inspection of the G4S-run prison took place in September 2015, several months after inspectors rated its safety and overall effectiveness as “inadequate”. Although the safety … Read more
In a letter to Lord McNally, the Chair of the Youth Justice Board, Article 39, the Howard League for Penal Reform and INQUEST say we are “deeply troubled” that MTCnovo, the company taking over the management of Rainsbrook secure training centre, appears to have no experience of looking after vulnerable children in a residential setting. … Read more
Four months after a damning inspection report, which said safeguarding was inadequate in G4S-run Rainsbrook secure training centre, the government announced MTCnovo would be handed the contract to run the child prison. MTCnovo is a partnership between MTC, which manages 25 correctional facilities in the United States, and the UK-based company Amey. The contract transfer … Read more
The Youth Justice Board has published research it commissioned in 2013 on the use of head-holds in child prisons. Twenty-two adults studying at Coventry University, aged between 18 and 24, volunteered to have their heart and lung function tested in a laboratory whilst they were subject to 12 different head-holds. The psychological impact on the … Read more