Ministers beg judges - Don't jail any more criminals!

Desperate ministers will beg judges to stop sending criminals to prisons - because they are full. A letter will be sent to courts across the country admitting that jails are officially in crisis. It pleads for only the most violent or dangerous criminals to be given a custodial sentence. Magistrates are also being asked to allow bail to all but the most serious crime suspects.

The letter, signed by Home Secretary John Reid, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer and Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, is the first in a series of drastic steps likely over the next few weeks. The most dramatic option is to order the early release of thousands of inmates sentenced to 12 months or less. The Home Secretary has been struggling since last summer to contain the overcrowding crisis - caused by the Government ignoring repeated advice to build more prisons - but it is now escalating rapidly. On Monday alone, nearly 300 more prisoners were sent down by the courts than were released, pushing the jail population to almost 80,000.

source: Article 'Ministers beg judges - don't jail any more criminals!'; www.thisislondon.co.uk/ news/article-23382827- details/Ministers%20beg%20judges %20-%20don't%20jail% 20any%20more%20crim inals!/article.do?expand=true; Thisislondon.co.uk; 23 January 2007