The use of pepper spray to incapacitate children is ‘wholly irresponsible’ according to the head of the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) which inspect prisons in England and Wales. The IMB’s National chair Elisabeth Davies said: ‘There is clear racial disproportionality when it comes to the use of force. It is…wholly irresponsible to expand use-of-force measures before disproportionality issues are addressed.’
Statistics provided by the Howard League for Penal Reform with a breakdown by ethnicity show that a Black/Black British man is significantly more likely to be sprayed by PAVA than a white man. The data shows that from early 2019 to late 2023, PAVA spray was deployed against over a thousand people in prison.
The topic of discriminatory use of PAVA spray has become more prevalent in the wake of the rollouts within Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). A National Independent Advisory Group known as EQUAL– concerned with rights of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) and Muslim people in the criminal justice system wrote a letter to prisons minister Lucy Fraser highlighting their concerns. They said there are inadequate safeguards in preventing the discriminatory use of PAVA against BAME prisoners.
Shabana Mahmood, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice made public statements earlier this year affirming that all inappropriate use will be investigated according to those safeguarding policies. The live evaluation process will be part of the 12 month implementation of PAVA use in YOIs with senior officials overseeing such investigations and reporting.
The Ministry of Justice acknowledged the racial disparity stating that ‘Disproportionality considerations have been incorporated into the ‘readiness assessment’ for the rollout of PAVA incapacitant spray. This will see a requirement for prisons to demonstrate they are monitoring for any disproportionality in their use of force’.
Lord Chancellor Mahmoud maintains that PAVA will be used only ‘as a last resort’, when it is necessary, appropriate, and proportionate as to reduce the risk of life-threatening/serious injury to a young prisoner or prison staffer.
