source: The Justice Gap
published: 24 June 2015

Joseph Scholes and Adam Rickwood died within weeks of being placed in penal institutions. Carolyne Willow met the boys’ mothers, and tells their stories in her shocking book, Children Behind Bars.

Joseph’s story:
Joseph Scholes loved Lego. Every Christmas he would ask for the biggest set, the castle or the pirate galleon, and spend the day building. Joseph was one of four children, he belonged to a close family: they ate meals together around the kitchen table, had regular holidays and enjoyed each others’ company.

He was born in Sale, Greater Manchester, on 20 February 1986. His mother told me Joseph was quite a large baby and “very, very beautiful”.

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source: The Guardian
published: 21 March 2015

More than 500 black and ethnic minority individuals have died in suspicious circumstances while in state detention over the past 24 years, but not a single official has been successfully prosecuted, a report examining institutional racism has revealed.

The report, by the Institute of Race Relations, concludes that too little has changed to prevent black and Asian people dying in detention and that seemingly racist attitudes remain a concern, with a “large proportion of these deaths involving undue force and many more a culpable lack of care”.

It concludes: “Despite narrative verdicts warning of dangerous procedures and the proliferation of guidelines, lessons are not being learnt: people die in similar ways year on year.”

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