THE unlawful death of a 14-year-old boy in a County Durham secure training centre may have paved the way for a flood of compensation claims.

Victims of unlawful restraint techniques used in young offender institutes in the 1990s and 2000s may now be able to claim compensation after a landmark ruling in the High Court.

In a case brought by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), Mr Justice Foskett found that government agencies such as the Youth Justice Board had failed to stop unlawful force being used against children and young people held at Secure Training Centres (STC) between 1998 and 2008.

The judge’s ruling follows the death of teenager Adam Rickwood who died after being unlawfully restrained at Hassockfield STC at Medomsley near Consett, Co Durham, in August 2004.

Adam, who was found hanging in his cell, was the youngest person to die in custody in modern times.

A jury at a second inquest into his death, held 12 months ago in Easington, Co Durham, found that Adam, from Burnley, Lancashire, had been unlawfully killed.

The inquest found that at the time of Adam’s death, the Youth Justice Board should have been aware the method of restraint was being used unlawfully, which was a “serious system failure” at the secure training centre.

Precise numbers of children and young people subject to these illegal restraint techniques are not known, but it was estimated by Mr Justice Foskett that as many as 25% of restraint incidents may have been unlawful.