A teenage inmate had been arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon after another young inmate was allegedly held hostage at a youth jail.

Riot officers were called out to the jail on Monday, March 13, after young inmates apparently threatened another youngster with a homemade weapon.

Specially-trained officers were sent to Cookham Wood Young Offenders’ Institution in Rochester after a 17-year-old detainee was threatened by a gang of other inmates in the exercise yard.

It is believed he was grabbed and a filed down sharp toothbrush ‘blade’ was held to his neck.

The Sir Evelyn Road-based facility, which houses 15 to 18-year-olds, was on lock-down most of the day and later thee Prison Service’s Tornado team, stormed the yard and used fire-crackers to disperse the group and gain control.

One woman, who has a son inside the prison, but didn’t want to be named, said: “He said the teenager who was held at knifepoint usually stays in his cell and doesn’t mix with others, but was made to go an exercise on the yard.

“My son called back about an hour later and said riot officers had now gone in and had used fire-crackers and some sort of paint gun to get the situation under control.”

Later in the afternoon, a Prison Service spokesman said: “Staff successfully resolved an incident involving a small number of offenders.

“No-one was injured and there was no threat to the public.”

Cookham Wood was built in the 1970s, originally for young men, but its use was changed to meet the growing need for secure female accommodation later on.

In 2007/8 it was converted into a juvenile centre and has the capacity to house 178 inmates.

A spokesman for police on Friday said: “Kent Police is investigating an altercation reported at Cookham Wood Prison in Rochester at 9.23am on Monday 13 March 2017.

“A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and enquiries into the incident are ongoing.”