decision to lock up two 13-year-olds in the Co-ed Facility.

His decision was slammed last week by chairman of the Coalition for the Protection of Children Mrs. Sheelagh Cooper who said what the two boys really needed was treatment instead of being locked up in a facility designed for women and low risk prisoners.

At the weekend, Mr. Edness agreed children should not be sent to the Co-ed Facility, but said, "When the staff come to me with a request to do so, which they don't like to do, it is usually because the children are totally out of control and a danger to his or herself and the general public.

"And unfortunately, at the moment we have nowhere else where we can contain the children while we are stabilising them.'' Mr. Edness added that very often the problem among Bermuda's youth was drugs.

They caused the child to be totally out of control and a danger to other children in the residential facility.

"The reason why we were unable to put children up at Youth Development Centre is because we are not able to presently contain them.

"We have built a facility up there but it is not properly staffed or finished. It requires staffing for 24 hours which means retraining eight more staff which we have not gotten on board yet.

"Hopefully, we will be operational in the near future and will be able to contain such children who are out of control without having to send them temporary to the Co-ed Facility.''