A HIGH Court judge has ordered a new inquest into the death of a teenage boy who hanged himself in custody.

Adam Rickwood, 14, from Burnley, Lancashire, became the youngest person to die in custody in modern times when he hanged himself using his shoelaces at the Hassockfield Secure Training Centre, near Consett, County Durham, in 2004.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Blake said the issue of whether Adam had been subjected to “unlawful treatment” would have to be considered by the inquest jury, as well as accusations that a “persistent unlawful regime” had been operating at Hassockfield.

A previous jury found that Adam had deliberately taken his own life. But his mother, Carol Pounder, took the case to the High Court because the coroner had refused to rule on the legality of physical restraint methods used on her son in the hours before his death.

The judge sent the case back to Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle for him to conduct a new inquiry before a fresh jury.

Adam had been at the centre for a month when, on the afternoon of August 8, 2004, he was ordered to his cell by a staff member after he refused to hand over an offensive note written by another inmate.

He refused to go, arguing that he had done nothing wrong. It was during an ensuing struggle with officers that four adult guards subjected him to the nose distraction technique, in which pressure is applied with the deliberate intention of causing pain.

The coroner decided it was unnecessary for him to rule on the legality of the restraint; the question was whether staff using the restraint honestly thought they had the power to do so.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Blake said that, “unsurprisingly”, no one had sought to argue during the High Court hearing that what happened to Adam was in accordance with the law on disciplinary regimes for children in custody.

Adam was not causing, threatening or inciting violence, and the order to return to his locked cell was against the rules.

Mr Justic Blake said it was equally wrong for such nonviolent disobedience to be met with the “first response” procedure of calling for emergency assistance.

The physical interference with Adam was also a breach of the rules and, strictly, an assault on him.

And the use of the nose distraction technique was unjustified and disproportionate.

‘‘On top of all that, it can now be seen that, not only was there no lawful authority to do any of this to Adam, but doing this to him was subjecting him to at least degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights,’’ the judge said.

The coroner’s withdrawing from the jury the question of the legality of the force used on Adam “undermined the integrity of this inquisition”.

Ms Pounder said: “Nothing can bring Adam back. All I have ever wanted is to find out the full truth about what happened to Adam and for those with responsibility to be held to account and to try to ensure that other families do not have to go through what my family has.”

Mr Tweddle said last night: “Steps are being taken to move to a fresh hearing as soon as is possible.”

Review into restraint called for changes ADAM RICKWOOD – the youngest person to die in custody in Britain – began his life as just another little boy growing up in Lancashire.

He was brought up by his mother, Carol Pounder, and stepfather John, and had three sisters.

His family believes the trauma brought about by the deaths of close relatives had a severe effect on him.

He started drinking and smoking cigarettes, and then cannabis, and first came to the attention of the police when he had just turned 13.

The final chapter opened in June 2004, when Adam was charged with wounding another youth and burglary of the staff office at a community centre, in Burnley.

He was remanded to the Serco-run Hassockfield Secure Training Centre, near Consett, County Durham –150 miles from home.

At an inquest in Chester-le-Street, Ms Pounder said she had warned staff that her son was suicidal. He wrote a series of heartbreaking letters, begging for help to get him out.

Six hours before he was found hanged from a curtain rail on August 9, 2004, he had been restrained by four officers and was left bloodied after a painful “nose distraction technique” was used to stop him struggling.

Following a four-month inquest at Chester-le-Street Magistrates’ Court, in June 2007, a jury ruled that Adam had taken his own life.

Regulations at the time only allowed the use of techniques to prevent children from harming themselves or harming others or to prevent damage to property.

A month after the inquest, Ms Pounder accused the authorities of pushing new rules through Parliament allowing the technique to enforce everyday discipline.

Lord Carlisle, who conducted an inquiry on behalf of the Howard League for Penal Reform, condemned the change and the Government was forced to order a review. In December, it announced the restraint technique would be outlawed.