| |
Free up cell space
• LORD Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, is the latest figure to admit that prison overcrowding is at a critical level, and, as he says, this is directly due to the government’s sentencing policy.
When Pentonville Prison is full, Islington services have to fill the gap. Earlier this year, the Tribune reported how cells at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court were being used to hold prisoners.
Using court cells in this way costs the taxpayer about £1,800 a time – more than a night at the Ritz.
I’ve been listening to local people’s views on this issue. More than two-thirds of Islington residents I have spoken to agree that we should make more use of community-based sentences for petty crime, to free up space in prison for the most serious and violent offenders.
Prison overcrowding is bad news all round. Bad for communities, because dangerous criminals may go free; bad for taxpayers, because stop-gap measures cost more; bad for prison officers, because overcrowded prisons are difficult and dangerous to run; and bad news for prisoners, because their chances of education and rehabilitation go down the drain.
Prisons are full of people who shouldn’t be there in the first place, while dangerous criminals are let out early. We need treatment for addicts and the mentally ill, community sentences for petty crime and proper sentences for the worst crimes.
BRIDGET FOX
Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate, Islington South and Finsbury
|
 |
|
| |
| Your Comments : |
| |
| |
| |
