In the last quarter of 2012, the proportion of people given immediate custodial terms was down from 28 per cent to 27 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.
Continue reading “Fewer jail terms for knife possession, figures reveal – The Telegraph” »
Just one in four thugs caught with a knife were jailed last year – despite public demands for robust sentences.
Continue reading “Just a quarter of criminals caught with a knife are jailed despite plans for stronger sentencing – Daily Mail” »
Community sentences have been branded a failure after it emerged nearly 8,000 criminals sent to prison last year had been handed 11 or more of the supervised orders.
Continue reading “Community Sentences Branded ‘A Failure’ For Not Reducing Reoffending And Prison Numbers – Huffington Post” »
You report that the government has no intention of raising the age of criminal responsibility (Were James Bulger’s killers too young to stand trial?, Society, 6 February). However, there is another way to achieve the same outcome.
Continue reading “Naughty children, criminal responsibility and mental illness” »
Offenders worked over 125,000 hours on community payback projects last year worth over £930,000* of free labour to communities in York and North Yorkshire, according to the Probation Trust’s third Community Payback annual report published today.
Continue reading “Offenders in York and North Yorkshire Spend 125,000 Hours on Community Schemes” »
A leading prison reformer argues that most women in prison today in England and Wales could be rehabilitated more effectively through a community sentence.
Continue reading “Women offenders: radical reform still urgently needed” »
Criminals released from jail early or handed a suspended or community sentence went on to commit more than 33,000 offences in just two years.
Continue reading “Freed West Midlands prisoners commit 33,000 crimes in two years – Birmingham Mail” »
Lily, aged 25, is the youngest of four siblings. The family moved often to refuges, in flight from a violent father. At 13, Lily stopped going to school, began to drift and drink, became addicted to crack cocaine, and lived with an abusive, drug-addled boyfriend. At 21, she attacked a woman, her only crime. She served three years and now, recently released on licence, reflective and bright, she is desperately seeking to make amends and to begin again. Her aim is to become a midwife.
Continue reading “Women’s centres give vital help to ex-convicts. So why cut them? – The Observer” »
Hundreds of British women continue to be wrongly imprisoned, according to a study that condemns the government for not complying with international standards set by the United Nations on treatment of female inmates.
Continue reading “Hundreds of women still wrongly imprisoned – The Observer” »
Thousands of violent criminals, sex offenders and burglars were let off with a caution amid concerns from magistrates that police were infringing upon sentencing powers which should be left to the courts.
Continue reading “Use of police cautions has ‘got out of hand’, magistrates warn – The Telegraph” »
Mr Grayling, the Justice Secretary, is expected to tell MPs he is starting a feasibility study for the project which would see 2,000 inmates housed in one jail.
Continue reading “Chris Grayling to unveil plans for Britain’s biggest prison – Daily Telegraph” »
