• AutoTL;DRB
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    29 months ago

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    Judges have been told to delay the sentencing of convicted criminals currently on bail – including rapists and burglars – because prisons are full, according to a report.

    Earlier this year, in a court of appeal case, Edis said that for offences which attract shorter terms, judges and magistrates should consider imposing suspended sentences given “current prison population levels”.

    Last year, the government announced Operation Safeguard, the emergency use of 400 police cells to hold inmates.

    To much criticism, it recently said it would seek to rent prison cells in foreign countries to alleviate the squeeze in England and Wales.

    In his court of appeal judgment in March, Edis cited a letter from the then justice secretary, Dominic Raab, which said: “Detention would be harsher than before on account of high occupancy levels, reduced access to rehabilitation programmes and the possibility of prisoners being detained further away from home.”

    Speaking to Times Radio, the health secretary, Steve Barclay, refused to confirm or deny that judges had been told not to send some convicted criminals to jail owing to prisons nearing capacity but acknowledged prisons were under “huge pressure”.


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