A teenager locked up at the youth jail at the centre of abuse allegations has told KentOnline that staff do not have control.

The 18-year-old, who got in touch after BBC Panorama revealed shocking footage secretly filmed at Medway Secure Training Centre in Rochester, said it was the children who ran the facility.

She added: “They might not have the keys but they run it. There are people in there that have been in there for years and have got years to go. They have got the staff wrapped around their finger.”

The teenager, who did not want to be named, said she was bullied and victimised by other trainees.

“The girls would bang on my door, call me names and say evil things. The staff just allowed it to happen.

“I asked if I could move to another unit but they refused. They told me I just had to wait it out.

“I was hit in the face twice by another girl and I said I wanted to press charges but nothing was done. There was a boy in there at the same time as me who had hot water and sugar thrown over his face – it left him disfigured.

“There are people like him that the prison should be looking after but they aren’t. It is so out of hand. And we can’t tell anyone because we are seen as a grass.”

The teen, who has suffered from bipolar disorder, said she felt suicidal for the first time during her three-month detention there.

“I felt so low. You can’t speak to your mum or your friends. You feel so isolated,” she added.

“The staff are not given enough training to deal with things like that. Vulnerable children are not getting the help they need and it is putting them at risk.

"If you say you are suicidal they punish you by taking everything out of your room so you can’t harm yourself, rather than dealing with how you are feeling.

“Some of the staff are so lovely but there are others who shouldn’t be working there. They act like the children and they should be the ones locked in the cells. They treat the children like animals.”

The teenager was sentenced to three months at the unit after breaching a youth offender order for arson. But now she said she is turning her life around. She has got her own flat and is due to start college.

She said: “I never want to go back to somewhere like that again.”

Following the programme Paul Cook, managing director for children’s services at G4S, said he was “appalled” the behaviour of certain members of staff and said they were conducting an internal review.

Meanwhile, the mother of a troubled boy who appeared on the BBC Panorama programme has spoken of the lasting damage the centre will have on her son.

The teenager, whose name was changed to Billy for the documentary at Medway Secure Training Centre in Rochester, was seen being restrained by staff.

The footage appeared to show one officer using excessive force and Billy is heard telling him ‘I can’t breathe’.

In another scene, an officer shouts at Billy for not cleaning his room and punches the window of his cell.

Billy’s mother said that the footage made her feel angry and guilty.

“The first I knew about what had gone on was when I got a knock on my door from Panorama. My initial feeling was anger. As a family member you feel guilty that you didn’t know,” she said.

The programme has led to calls for G4S, the private security firm which runs the jail, to be stripped of its contract. Others have called for the centre to be shut down.

But Billy’s mother said: “I don’t agree that it should be shut down and another unit opened up. You will just create another problem elsewhere. It needs to be thought through properly.

“There should be a lot more training for staff to deal with the mental health issues that these kids have. There is a lack of understanding. Two weeks training for the job is not enough.”

Billy, 14, has suffered with mental health issues most of his life. He spent three months at the centre for fighting.

His mother said: “I knew there was something different about my son from the moment I took him to the doctors when he was seven.

“I have always fought his corner. And I feel like everything I have worked for has been washed down the pan by that centre. He, without a doubt, will have lasting damages from his time there.”

Four staff members have been arrested on suspicion of child neglect and a fifth has been arrested on suspicion of assault. They have all been bailed until April pending further inquiries.