The Gibraltar Government has “no plans at this stage” to build a youth detention centre, Justice Minister Nigel Feetham told Parliament last week, as he was quizzed on how this community could best tackle youth crime.
GSD MP Joelle Ladislaus raised the issue as she highlighted a sharp increase in youth crime in recent years.
Between 2011 and 2016, there were five juveniles convicted, Parliament was told, but after 2017 the numbers “rise exponentially” to 32 convictions in 2023.
“Therefore, there is a clear pattern of increase,” Ms Ladislaus said.
“Anecdotally, just a few weeks ago, there was an incident in the south district where 10-year olds were held at knife point by teenagers wanting to steal their money for a disco,” she added.
“So that's how serious things can get.”
“Is the government taking any steps to address these issues?”
“Because many would agree that they can't be left to worsen, and if these young offenders are imprisoned at some point at HMP [Windmill Hill], it could have a worse impact because it's not made for children.”
But in responding, Mr Feetham said this was a complex issue driven by factors including cost and finding the best way to deal with young offenders who must serve time in custody.
Mr Feetham said the government had a manifesto commitment to consider, with relevant professionals, the creation of a youth offender institution.
He said he had received advice from a committee set up to consider the issue.
“The committee was of the view that, given the number of individuals involved and the projected cost, the creation of a secure juvenile detention centre is not the best fit for Gibraltar of the most effective use of resources,” Mr Feetham said, citing the advice.
Mr Feetham said he had discussed this “very complicated” issue with the probation service and the Commissioner of Police, adding it was simplistic only to look at numbers.
“They could be high one year and they could be low in another year,” he said.
There were currently no youth offenders in Windmill Hill prison, he noted to illustrate the point.
Mr Feetham said that while there was an argument against holding young offenders in an adult prison, the reverse was also true in that it was sometimes not in their best interest to serve time in a youth facility.
“There could be instances where you have a young person in a youth detention centre on his own,” Mr Feetham said.
“In other words, solitary confinement, the worst form of punishment for any adult, let alone a young offender.”
In prison, there is an education department and a retired teacher who attend to give educational support to inmates, including young offenders.
Young offenders can also have controlled interaction with other inmates for example in the gym, in the patio and in the prison workshop.
“It is a very complicated subject and the advice that I'm given by relevant professionals is that prevention is better than cure,” Mr Feetham said.
“All I can do is continue to engage with those professionals that are better positioned than I am to be able to take a decision in relation to this.”
But Ms Ladislaus, a lawyer with direct experience of working within the criminal justice system, said prison was not the best environment for a young offender.
“There is evidence to suggest…that these young offenders then learn from older offenders, unfortunately, and more hardened offenders, and they pick up things that perhaps they wouldn't if they weren't subjected to the general [prison] population,” Ms Ladislaus said.
“Therefore, have any alternative solutions been identified? If a young offender institute is not the way forward for Gibraltar, have any other solutions been identified?”
Mr Feetham said it was vital to develop a strategy to break the cycle of young offending at an early age, but that a juvenile detention centre may not be suitable for Gibraltar.
“It's a huge investment, not just in infrastructure, not just in construction, but also in the maintenance of the detention centre, in the staff [because] it has to be staffed 24/7, there has to be shifts” Mr Feetham said.
“So in the context of the numbers [of juvenile offenders], and they are low digit numbers, the answer is the one that I've given.”
In terms of an alternative strategy, “that is exactly the sort of discussions and conversations that we will be having.”
“Certainly we believe that we need to pursue a strategy in relation to this…”