An attempt to halt the use of pepper spray on children held in young offender institutions (YOIs) has failed after the high court ruled on Monday that the weapon’s rollout was lawful.
The Howard League for Penal Reform challenged the Labour government’s decision to authorise the use of Pava, a synthetic form of pepper spray, in three prisons in England holding boys as young as 15.
Risks such as the physical and psychological harm posed by Pava, the likely disproportionate use of the spray against disabled children and black and minority ethnic prisoners, and propensity to increase violence overall, had not been considered, the charity said.
But in a judgment on Monday, Mr Justice Calver said that the then justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, had sought to ensure that its use was only as a “last resort”.
“It is plain that the secretary of state was closely involved in the formation of the Pava policy and was insistent upon thorough safeguards being introduced concerning its use, as well as constant ‘live’ monitoring and oversight of the limited use of Pava which she expected to be extremely rare in view of the limitations upon its use: viz, as a last resort, and only where there is an immediate threat of life-changing or life-ending violence,” the judgment said.
Mahmood authorised the rollout of Pava across YOIs in England and Wales in April amid growing demands from the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) to protect staff from attacks.
The Youth Justice Board, the children’s commissioner for England, the Independent Monitoring Boards and the British Association of Social Workers all issued critical statements in response. HM Inspectorate of Prisons had “serious concerns” about the move.
Squirted from a canister, Pava spray, or pelargonic acid vanillylamide, causes searing pain and discomfort in the eyes for about 40 minutes and a burning sensation to skin.
In 2018 it was rolled out in men’s prisons in England and Wales. Since then, there have been claims of disproportionate use against disabled people and those from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The government’s “use of force” evaluation report, published in April, found black prisoners were nearly twice as likely as white prisoners to experience Pava and baton use. Using official data to March 2023, the report found that 409 of every 1,000 black inmates were subjected to use of force, compared with 208.6 per 1,000 white prisoners.
In the 12 months to March 2025, YOIs recorded an average serious assault rate of 35.8 incidents per 100 children and young people per year, a 58% increase on the previous year’s rate of 22.6.
Andrea Coomber, the chief executive of the Howard League, said she was disappointed by the ruling. “Clearly, today’s decision in court is not the outcome we hoped for, and our disappointment will be shared by the many individuals and organisations who have stood alongside us in opposing this policy.
“We are glad that this opposition has forced the government to implement additional safeguards, including preventing a ‘full rollout’ to all officers in prisons holding children as was originally proposed. However, we continue to have serious reservations as to how effective any safeguards or purported mitigations can ever be, knowing as we do the enduring harm already caused by the use of other pain-inducing techniques against children in prison.”
Mark Fairhurst, the national chair of the POA, welcomed the ruling. “The people who wish to remove any form of protection from staff who deal with the most violent cohort of convicts that are incarcerated should hang their heads in shame. They will never have the courage to don the king’s uniform and tackle the extreme levels of violence my members face on a daily basis. Age is no excuse for violent behaviour. The nature of this violence presents a high risk to life-changing injury.”
