Juvenile untouchables
From Nick Wootton
Sir: As an Independent Custody Visitor (formerly ‘Lay Visitor’), I can attest to the accuracy of Jeremy Clarke’s article (‘I’ve been arrested for peeling potatoes?’, 11 November). Sadly, the picture he paints is not restricted to Saturday nights, or only to Plymouth. The Police and Custody Assistants work in the conditions described day in and day out, usually with limited access to natural light or fresh air. (With the smells in the custody suites, anosmia is advantageous.) But possibly the saddest picture is one Mr Clarke did not see — that of a ‘juvenile’ of 12–16 (or even younger), streetand worldly-wise, hard as nails, already with their own social worker and solicitor, and the attitude that the system cannot touch them. When one sees them mouthing off at the custody staff and ready to take on the world, it makes one wonder.
Nick Wootton Wallasey, Wirral
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