Teenager wins ruling on detention of 17-year-olds

Date: 24th April 2013
Category: General measures of implementation

The right to contact an 'appropriate adult' now extends to 17-year-olds, after a teenager successfully challenged the law which treats 17-year-olds in police custody as adults, not children.

The High Court ruled the policy was "incompatible" with human rights law, whereby under-17s are given greater protection. The case was brought by Hughes Cousins-Chang, now 18, who had been kept in custody for 12 hours and strip-searched before being released on police bail.

The ruling follows the deaths of two 17-year-olds who killed themselves after getting into trouble with police.

• Read the full article here.