Pindown was a method of behaviour management used in children's homes in Staffordshire, England in the 1980s. It involved isolating children, sometimes for weeks on end, and in some cases drove children to the verge of suicide. Following expressions of concern, the council ordered a public inquiry into the practice of "Pindown". The subsequent report condemned the practice as "unethical, unprofessional and illegal"; the report had a major impact on children's law in the United Kingdom. Background Staffordshire children's homes were, in the 1980s, an underfunded and understaffed part of a department that was required to find £1.5M in cuts. They were also severely overcrowded; the log books of The Birches notes that on one occasion, 30 children were playing five-a-side football whilst that of 245 Hartshill Road records an instance of 20 children playing the game; in each case, the maximum number of residents in each home was exactly half those recorded - 15 at The Birches and 10 at Hartshill Road. It was also noted that a boy who absconded from The Birches returned to find there was no bed for him; he spent the night on the floor. On 2 October 1989 John Spurr, a deputy director of Staffordshire County Council's social services department, was telephoned by a Stoke-on-Trent solicitor, Kevin Williams, who was extremely concerned about a 15yearold girl for whom he was acting in care proceedings. She had made allegations of abuse in the children's home at 245 Hartshill Road and had broken her ankle in seeking to escape from the home. The following day, Barry O'Neill (Director of Social Services) issued instructions that pindown must cease at Hartshill Road. When the issue was publicised, the county council determined that a public inquiry must be held. O'Neill later noted that, in such a straitened system, there had been "a clear policy decision to let [Tony Lathamthe social worker in charge] get on with it and not to interfere as long as he 'produced the goods'." The practice Pindown was a behaviour management policy developed by social worker Tony Latham in the 1980s. It began as a strict control regime; children were often required to wear pyjamas in order to prevent their absconding, but this practice encountered little success; the local police complained that they were still spending too much time dealing with runaways. Pindown was first practised in the children's residential home at 245 Hartshill