Lamont Cathey, who was jailed for breaking into a pizza parlour in Chicago, US, has been tucking into everything in his cell since he was first imprisoned in Cook County prison 16 months ago.
The 17-year-old has spent his time consuming a number of metal objects, which have put him in the prison's hospital on 24 separate occasions.
He has undergone a series of operations to remove items such as screws, needles, a drawing pin, parts of a medical device and strips of leather from his body – costing a total of $1.3million (£840,000).
The jail's executive director, Cara Smith, said that Cathey, whose lawyers say he needs long-term psychiatric treatment, illustrated a wider problem.
She said: "This case to me is a perfect example of the failure of the criminal justice system.
"It's been a crushingly sad and very frustrating case.
"He’s literally eating the jail."
Cathey, who has also eaten parts of a security camera, has threatened to kill himself a number of times, but has not been allowed a transfer to a psychiatric ward.
He is not the only American prisoner who faces problems with mental health treatment.
A report issued last year says there were 10 times the number of people with mental illness in American prisons than in state psychiatric units.
