Controversial face-down restraint still being used for mental health patients in England

Dangerous practice was supposed to be phased out but new data reveals thousands of incidents every year

Mental health patients are being pinned face down by staff thousands of times a year, despite ministers and health experts repeatedly warning that it is dangerous.

Prone restraint, in which someone is held chest down to defuse an incident, has been a source of controversy for years and been involved in the death of a number of people with mental health problems.