Criminals under the age of 18 should not be sent to jail even for "heinous" offences such as murder as it breaches their human rights, Scotland's chief inspector of prisons said on Wednesday.

       Wendy Sinclair-Gieben said she had written to the Scottish Government calling for urgent legislation to be implemented by the end of this month ending imprisonment of 16 and 17-year-olds.

       She said Scotland's young offender institution at Polmont was in effect an adult prison and youngsters who had committed the most serious crimes should instead be housed in secure accommodation, a form of residential care.

       They would only be transferred to a prison when they were older. SNP ministers have already committed to reducing the number of under-18s in prison but Ms Sinclair-Gieben said progress was not being made "fast enough".

       Public would be 'horrified'

       However, the Scottish Tories said the public would be "horrified" at child killers such as Aaron Campbell not being sent to prison for their crimes.

       Campbell was 16 when he was sentenced to life for abducting, raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha Macphail on the Isle of Bute in 2018.

       Under-16s are not sent to prison in Scotland but 120 teenagers under 18 were imprisoned last year, with most being there on remand.

       Last week there were 14 children in Polmont, Scotland's national holding facility for male young offenders aged between 16 and 21.

       The chief inspector said that even though it was doing a good job, Polmont was run as a prison with the same restrictions and ministers should instead fund places directly in secure accommodation.

       Breach of human rights

       Arguing that sending young offenders to prison was a breach of their human rights, Ms Sinclair-Gieben told BBC Scotland: "We have to change the perception that people under 18 have to go to prison because their crimes are so offensive.

       "In reality, the secure care system manages people with violent challenging behaviour extremely well and we need to allow them to do it."

       A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The decision whether to keep someone under the age of 18 in custody is a matter for the independent courts."