PAVA spray is used disproportionately against Black boys in prison, new figures reveal

PAVA spray has been used disproportionately against Black boys since the Ministry of Justice authorised the weapon’s rollout to prisons holding children, data obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform reveal today (Wednesday 16 September).

In April 2025, Shabana Mahmood, the then Secretary of State for Justice, gave the green light for PAVA spray to be used in three prisons in England, holding boys as young as 15 – Feltham A, Werrington and Wetherby. The Howard League understands that deployment began in August for Werrington and Wetherby and in September for Feltham A.

Figures provided to the Howard League in response to a Freedom of Information Act request show that in the first few months of deployment, up to the end of March 2026, PAVA spray was drawn and used against 33 children and young people in total – 19 in Feltham A and 14 in Werrington. In Wetherby, PAVA spray was drawn on at least one occasion but not used.

Of the 33 children and young people who had PAVA spray used against them, 18 were Black and six were white. Despite comprising only about 30% of the population in Feltham A and Werrington, Black children and young people were on the receiving end about 55% of the time.

Ministers were warned that PAVA spray was likely to be used disproportionately against Black children, before they made the decision to authorise its use in Feltham A, Werrington and Wetherby. This was revealed in December 2025, when the Howard League went to the High Court to challenge the government’s decision.

During a two-day hearing, it emerged in court that the then Secretary of State made her decision in a meeting with the Youth Custody Service in October 2024. She had been provided with an Equality Impact Assessment and a Child Rights Impact Assessment that showed that Black children, Muslim children and children with disabilities were likely to be particularly adversely affected by the decision. She was recorded as saying that she had concerns about disproportionate use of PAVA spray (on Black children in particular), stating that “this is her red line and she would not defend disproportionality in use”.

The judge, Mr Justice Calver, was told that the decision had been “finely balanced”, due to the risk and controversial nature of the use of PAVA spray with children. The judge acknowledged that the Ministry of Justice did not expect the introduction of PAVA spray to reduce overall levels of violence and harm in prisons holding children, and that it may in fact cause a “long-term escalation and rising tenor of violent behaviour”, but officials believed that it had the potential to prevent the infliction of immediate and serious harm/violence.

Although the Howard League’s claim was dismissed by the judge, the charity has continued to monitor PAVA spray’s use and governance closely. Last month, it learned that, as well as authorising the use of PAVA spray in the three prisons for a further 12 months, the Ministry of Justice has set up a monitoring and oversight board to address “ongoing concern” about disproportionality, with particular concerns around the adverse impact on Black children and children who are neurodiverse.

Further clarity on the impact of PAVA use against children with disabilities is being sought urgently by the charity.

Gemma Abbott, Legal Director at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “PAVA is a chemical irritant spray that can cause severe pain, and it is classified as a prohibited weapon under the Firearms Act 1968. It is shameful that prison staff have been given the power to use it against children.

“Before ministers made this decision, they were told that it would affect Black children disproportionately. The then Secretary of State said that this would be her ‘red line’ but went ahead anyway – and the figures we share today indicate that line is being crossed again and again. Instead of setting up yet another means of monitoring the harm being done to children, ministers should urgently withdraw PAVA from children’s prisons and stop the harm happening in the first place.

“The Ministry of Justice promised that safeguards would be in place, but we continue to have serious reservations as to how effective any safeguards can ever be, knowing as we do the enduring harm already caused by the use of other pain-inducing techniques against children in prison.

“For as long as PAVA is authorised for use in prisons holding children, there must be more transparency. The Howard League has been told it should make freedom of information requests for basic information that ought to be published regularly, in relation to ethnicity but also age, religion and disability. If ministers have confidence in this controversial policy, why are they so keen to evade public scrutiny?”

The Howard League was not alone in opposing the government’s decision when it was announced in April 2025. 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. The Howard League added its name to a joint statement signed by 37 other organisations and individuals working in children’s rights and youth justice, which called the decision “an abject failure in safeguarding those children held in custody”.

Notes to editors

1. The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the world. It is a national charity working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison.
2. More information about the Howard League’s work in relation to PAVA spray can be found here.
3. The Howard League was among dozens of signatories to a statement published by the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ), opposing the government’s decision and setting out the significant risks this measure poses to children’s safety and wellbeing.
4. In March 2026, the Howard League shared figures, obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, which showed that children were typically being kept in their cells for about 20 hours a day and receiving less than 15 hours of education per week.

Contact

Rob Preece
Head of Communications
Tel: +44 (0)7714 604955
Email: [email protected]