Children have been detained under the Mental Health Act 39 times in the last five years, figures reveal.
Rushen MHK and Speaker Juan Watterson asked Health and Social Care Minister Claire Christian in the last five years, how many people under the age of 18 have been detained and sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Ms Christian confirmed that between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2025 a total of 39 people under the age of 18 have been subject to detention under the Mental Health Act.
Her department released the figures showing the breakdown of people under the age of 18 subject to such detentions
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The figures do not necessarily mean 39 different individuals were detained as some were detained more than once.
No one under the age of 12 years was detained and just one person aged 12 was detained.
Six children aged 13 were detained and four aged 14. A total of five children aged 15 were detained, 12 aged 16 and 13 aged 17.
Between July 1 2020 and December 31, 2020, people under 18 were detained. There were ten in the whole of 2021, seven in 2022, six in 2023 and seven in 2024. So far in 2025 – up to June 30 – five people under 18 have been detained.
Mr Watterson’s latest question follows one he asked last week regarding how many off-Island placements there have been to acute mental health facilities in the last five years. He also asked what the average duration of stay was, how many have been for people aged under 18 and at what cost.
Since April 2020, a total of 38 patients have received care off-island with eight of those under 18.
Some of those have been sent to facilities in the UK as part of court orders while others need specialised care for the likes of eating disorders. Almost £20m has been spent in that time providing off-island mental health care.