Britain’s judges are sick of locking up children who just

Lack of provision for complex cases is a moral failure by our ‘civilised’ country, says a former president of the high court’s family division

The BBC recently reported extensively on the rising and excessive use of deprivation of liberty (DoL) orders on vulnerable children. What was described is shocking and the stories they reported are heartbreaking. But this scandal is nothing new.

For many years, judges have been calling for urgent action to address the shortage of suitable care for children with significant mental health and behavioural needs, at the same time as they are being compelled to make DoL orders.