Thousands of criminals to avoid jail in bid to tackle prison overcrowding as government introduces 'Texas-style' system
Thousands of criminals, including drug dealers and sex offenders, will avoid jail under new plans reportedly set to be introduced by the government to tackle overcrowding in prisons.
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Under plans set to be put forward by MPs next month, judges will be encouraged to presume against jail time for sentences shorter than 12 months as Labour looks to get a grip on Britain’s worsening prison crisis.
As part of the new Sentencing Bill, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to scrap prison time for sentencing than 12 months except under “exceptional circumstances”.
But according to a new report in the Times, all offenders on short sentences will mostly be given community sentences, avoiding jail altogether.
As part of the changes, a Texas-style system, which lets inmates earn early releases for good behaviour, may also be introduced.
This presumption against jail time was proposed in an independent review of sentencing by former justice secretary David Gauke.
A government spokesperson told the Times: “This government inherited a prisons system days away from collapse.
“That is why we are building 14,000 more prison places — with 2,500 already delivered — but we know we can’t build our way out of this crisis. Without further action, we will run out of prison places in months, courts would halt trials and the police cancel arrests.
“That is why as part of our plan for change, we are overhauling sentencing to make sure we always have the prison places needed to keep the country safe.”
Britain’s prisons have been at capacity for several years now, with only a handful of places available when Labour took power last July.
In a bid to ease the crisis, Labour released thousands of prisoners last September, many of whom were arrested and jailed promptly after release.