Rapists could be spared jail from next week as prisons reach breaking point, it was reported last night.
Sex offenders and burglars could be let out on bail rather than handed an immediate custodial sentence, according to guidance issued to judges.
The most dangerous criminals will reportedly have to be held in magistrates’ court cells if they are remanded in custody.
Prisons in England and Wales are on the brink of maximum capacity, with 88,016 inmates last Friday – leaving just 650 spaces spare.
The senior presiding judge for England and Wales, Lord Edis, ordered that sentencing hearings will have to be postponed from Monday, The Times reported.
The most dangerous criminals will reportedly have to be held in magistrates’ court cells if they are remanded in custody
Crown court judges were also told in an online briefing that an emergency scheme to release lower-risk inmates could be announced by ministers as early as next week in a bid to create room in the prison estate.
The move will leave the Government open to attack from Labour as law and order shapes up to be a key battleground in the next general election.
One judge said they had been ‘ordered/strongly encouraged’ not to send down convicted criminals.
‘We have been told that this is a ‘short-term measure’, but nobody knows what that means,’ the judge said.
Lord Edis holds the senior administrative position in the Crown courts
Lord Edis holds the senior administrative position in the Crown courts, which have been struggling with a massive backlog which started during the pandemic and was worsened by a lengthy defence barristers’ strike.
Data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) showed Crown courts in England and Wales had 64,709 cases on the books at end of June, up 4 per cent on the previous quarter.
The department has set a target to cut the backlog to 53,000 by March 2025 – but progress over recent months has gone into reverse.
The MoJ’s most recent projections say the prison population is set to rise to 94,400 by spring 2025 and more than 106,000 by 2027.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced at Tory party conference last week that he had launched discussions to hire prison space in other countries for the first time.
However, exporting offenders to serve time in rented foreign jail cells will require a change in the law. The MoJ declined to comment.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com
