POLICE chiefs have blasted plans to let violent thugs out of jail early – warning they risk wreaking havoc on Britain’s streets.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley – the country’s most senior cop – was among officers tearing into the proposals to drastically soften sentences.
The Sun can reveal they privately sent a scathing letter to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood ahead of yesterday’s prison reforms.
It will see some killers and rapists eligible for release after serving just half of their sentence rather than two thirds.
Individuals sentenced under Standard Determinate Sentences might be released after serving only a third of their term if they exhibit good behavior.
This is part of the recommendations from David Gauke’s independent sentencing review, which the government has adopted to create space in Britain’s overcrowded prisons by freeing up 10,000 cells.
If our prisons collapse, criminals will run amok & chaos will reign
Shabana Mahmood
However, Ms. Mahmood has dismissed the former Tory Cabinet Minister’s idea to grant early release to those on Extended Determinate Sentences, as they are usually given to the most dangerous offenders, and to anyone convicted of terrorism offenses.
Other reforms announced yesterday include:
- Short sentences under 12 months to be used only in rare cases, like persistent breaches or where victims need protection
- Suspended sentences up to three years rather than two for vulnerable offenders, such as addicts or pregnant women
- Greater use of fines, driving bans, travel bans and football banning orders instead of jail
- Automatic deportation of foreign offenders with sentences of fewer than three years
- Big investment in probation services and electronic tagging
Ms Mahmood insisted the controversial action had to be taken to stop the total “breakdown of law and order”.
She told MPs yesterday: “If our prisons collapse, courts are forced to suspend trials.
The police must halt their arrests. Crime goes unpunished, criminals run amok and chaos reigns.”
High-risk cons, like sex offenders, must be exempt from early release
Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett
But in the days before yesterday’s report publication, police chiefs sounded the alarm to ministers that without extra cash the reforms could trigger a crime wave.
Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett, who leads on criminal justice for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “Out of prison should not mean out of control.
“Adequate funding to support these measures must be reflected in the upcoming spending review, as well as investment in probation services and technology, including electronic monitoring, to enable policing to work across criminal justice agencies to monitor offenders and reduce reoffending.”
The top cop added: “It is crucial for public safety that high-risk offenders, including those convicted of violent or sexual offences, and those who pose a threat to national security, are exempt from early prison release.
“Robust prison sentences for these crimes must remain in place as a strong deterrent and means of keeping the public safe.
“It is also crucial that victims of domestic abuse are protected and that perpetrators understand that there will be harsh consequences for breaching orders.”
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick savaged the Government plans, arguing it was a “get out of jail free card for dangerous criminals”.
He also accused ministers of being “okay with criminals terrorising our streets and tormenting our country.”
The reforms also sparked outrage from victims’ campaigners, who said they risk sending the wrong message to dangerous offenders.
Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, said the changes would: “Send a clear message to domestic abusers that they can now offend with little consequence.”
She added: “I recognise the difficult situation ministers are in and that our approach to sentencing must change to address the prison capacity crisis.
“But watering down our criminal justice system is not the answer — especially when it comes at the expense of victims’ safety and cuts short the justice they have fought so hard for.”
‘Heading back towards zero capacity’
Campaigners Justice for Victims said the review had ignored those affected by violent crime, warning:“There isn’t any excuse for letting the worst offenders get out of prison even earlier.”
Defending the reforms in the Commons, Ms Mahmood said the crisis in the prison estate was spiraling.
She said the prison population is now rising by 3,000 a year, with the system “heading back towards zero capacity.”
As revealed by The Sun yesterday, the Justice Secretary also confirmed a pilot scheme offering voluntary chemical castration to some sex offenders will be expanded to 20 prisons across England.
Ms Mahmood said: “The review has recommended we continue a pilot of so-called medication to manage problematic sexual arousal.
“I will go further with a national rollout, beginning in two regions covering 20 prisons.
“And I am exploring whether mandating the approach is possible.”
The Government has not yet confirmed which regions or prisons will be part of the pilot scheme.
And Downing Street would not be drawn into saying whether it thought chemical castration of paedophiles was a punishment for offenders.
Asked about proposals to enforce chemical castration on sex offenders as mandatory, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “The scientific evidence is clear that the use of chemical suppressants may well be effective in tackling dangerous offenders, and that is why we are expanding the use of it.”
Reacting to the move, Prison Reform Trust chief executive Pia Sinha said forcing medical treatment raises “clear ethical considerations” which could put medical practitioners in an “invidious” position.
While criminal defence solicitor Marcus Johnstone, of PCD Solicitors, said it “won’t solve anything in the long run without adequate funding for counselling and psychological support that is critical to helping the rehabilitation of sex offenders into society”.
Latest figures show the prison population in England and Wales is 88,103, just 418 below the record of 88,521, which was reached on September 6 last year.
Mr Gauke’s report was inspired by a model used in high-security prisons in Texas, where lags progress through behaviour-based stages and can be released after a third of their sentence – or serve half if they don’t comply.
He told the BBC reducing time served was “the right thing to be doing” and warned: “Taken as a package, these measures should ensure the Government is never again in a position where it is forced to rely on the emergency release of prisoners.”
