1,100 prisoners to be freed next week in second round of early releases
Another 1,100 prisoners are due to be released early next week as the UK Government continues to battle with jail overcrowding.
The prisoners form the second round of early releases under a policy introduced early in the Government’s term to reduce the proportion of a sentence most offenders must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.
The first round of releases, in mid-September, saw 1,700 inmates set free early and helped the prison population fall from a record of 88,521 to 86,333.
Numbers have since risen again, reaching 87,028 on Friday, just below the levels seen when Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the plans in July.
Running out of space
Ms Mahmood had warned then that prisons risked running out of space, potentially causing the collapse of the justice system as courts would have nowhere to send convicted criminals.
The early release scheme does not apply to some inmates, including those convicted of sexual, domestic abuse or terrorism offences, or violent offenders serving sentences of more than four years.
September saw 37 inmates released in error after their sentences had not been correctly logged. Ms Mahmood confirmed on Thursday that all 37 were back in custody.
Ms Mahmood is expected to launch a review of sentencing during the week, which is likely to consider several reforms including whether tougher community sentences would be more effective than short spells in prison.
Sentencing powers
This follows her announcement that magistrates’ sentencing powers will be doubled again, allowing them to jail criminals for up to a year.
The move is intended to ease the backlog in the crown courts and reduce the number of remand prisoners waiting to receive sentences, but the Justice Secretary acknowledged this would initially “see a slight increase in the overall prison population”.
But the Criminal Bar Association warned that extending magistrates’ powers was a “short-term and long-term backfire” as it could “sharply increase” the overall prison population within a matter of months.
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Well done Conservative. Way to go.
Public services are socialism.
Public services are the gel that binds a society together.
I remember a person in Llanelli many years ago used to regularly throw a brick through the Co-op window around the end of November so he could spend Christmas in a nice warm cell and regular meals. I wonder how many of the 1,100 due to be released will have the same idea in mind.
…and how many tests have we heard that? 3 meals a day plus bed etc.What’s not to like for some of the ” old lags” ,especially at Christmas! Now that they see undocumented incomers given bed,board ,health care…..