Are Fewer Young People Are Being Sentenced To Custodial Sentences? 

The 2015 Closure of Hassockfield Secure Training Centre (STC) in Medomsley, Consett Gets Go Ahead

Justice Minister, Andrew Selous announced to our local MP, Pat Glass the closure of Hassockfield Secure Training Centre today.

Could this be a money saving exercise or is there another reason for local young offenders facility Hassockfield to close?

To add to recent job loses at Phileas Fogg in Consett, the closure of the Hassockfield offenders centre in Medomsley near Consett will mean another blow to local employment.

Hassockfield Secure Training FacilityIndeed, the people who work at these types of facilities are trained to care and educate young people and hopefully re-integrate them back into society as upstanding members of the community. So, what will happen to not only the young people who come here, but the trained staff who will be out of work without alternatives being offered? The reason the staff may not be given alternatives is because the facility is run by a private company, SERCO. This means the government closing the private run facility down will not mean they have to provide alternative employment to the specialist staff who have been trained to run such a training centre.

The official reason the secure training centre for young offenders is closing, is the fact that there are said to be fewer young people being given custodial sentences. So it looks like there are now less young offenders in the UK, but is this true?

This should be good news, the fact there are less young people being sentenced to custodial sentences, however there is a fear there could be young offending people out there who are being sent to much larger and cheaper to run facilities where education and care feature less.

The Hassockfield Young Offenders Facility will close in April 2015.

What do you think about the closure?


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3 COMMENTS

  1. I used to work there, after their death in custody they stopped locking up so many kids dishing out community sentences instead with the ones inside getting away with their behaviour as staff were too scared to tell them off for fear of being reprimanded. There are more offenders on the streets now due to tree hungers thinking that kids, some the dregs of society, are told to paint a fence instead of going somewhere for a few months to be taught how to be a better person, it’s a shame it is closing as the staff are good at what they do, the kids will be sent elsewhere or nowhere at all ultimately back to the streets

  2. Maybe it’s because over 900 people have come forward to say this place was one of the most disgusting child abuse centres in the UK.

    The truth is coming out and the place needs to be closed and now the people in power know it.

  3. Hi I was in hassockfield on minerva for almost 2 years I’m sorry but the staff were brilliant with me if we did wrong we were restrained as we should be , now I’m a mother myself and 21 now I left at 17 , it was emotional but at least the staff gave more a damn about me than the local authority did or social services , thankyou for looking after me .

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