The senior presiding judge in England and Wales is said to have called for a delay to sentencings to avoid more criminals being put behind bars.
Judges have been told not to send some convicted criminals to jail due to prisons nearing capacity, according to a report.
The Times quoted an anonymous senior judge as saying that they had been “ordered/strongly encouraged” not to send to prison a defendant who appears before them on bail due to concerns that the prison system is at capacity. Labour, responding to the report, said it was a “damning indictment of the state of our prisons” under the Conservative UK government.
A spokesman for the department said: “Our first priority is to keep the public safe from dangerous criminals. “The Prison Service has already put in place measures such as rapid deployment cells and doubling up cells to help manage these pressures, and the Government is carrying out the biggest prison building campaign since the Victorian era to build 20,000 new places, making sure we always have the places we need.”
Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s shadow justice secretary, said: “It is an absolutely damning indictment of the state of our prisons that this Tory government is unable to either get criminals locked up or keep them there.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rapists and burglars to be 'spared jail' after judges told 'prisons are full'Convicted rapists and burglars are to be 'spared jail' next week after judges were told the country's prison system is nearly at full capacity.
Read more »
Arlene Phillips- 'I fast-forward the Strictly judges, they go on too long'EXCLUSIVE: The former Strictly Come Dancing star reveals her thoughts on this year's line up and why she's glad she's no longer on the show
Read more »
Wales say Dan Biggar is fit for World Cup quarter-final against ArgentinaThe fly-half was injured during the early stages of Wales’ win against Australia.
Read more »