QUESTIONS must always be asked when someone dies in the custody of the authorities. Was due care taken? Was there mistreatment? Could it have been avoided?

When someone as young as 14 dies in custody - as was the case with Adam Rickwood - those questions take on even greater importance.

Adam was the youngest person to die in custody in Britain in modern times. His short life was blighted by problems with mental health and addictions, and his tragic end at such a young age makes heartbreaking reading.

The inquest into his death at Hassockfield Training Unit, in County Durham, has taken a month to complete and no one can argue that it hasn't been detailed and thorough - just as it should have been.

The jurors spent a week considering the evidence and returned a suicide verdict by a majority of nine to one. They also concluded that Hassockfield was an appropriate place for him to be detained and that staff had acted appropriately.

Those conclusions have to be respected because they have been reached at the end of a long, careful, democratic process.

But while the inquest has exonerated Hassockfield from wrong-doing, there are remaining questions about the wider system under which the centre operates.

Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle has called for a review of the system in the light of the Adam Rickwood case. What restraint techniques are appropriate and when should they be used?

It is a review that we hope is conducted swiftly and honestly, with the result that there is greater clarity about the best way to treat young offenders - and a better chance that future tragedies may be avoided.