UK: Convicted Criminals Could Avoid Jail as Prisons Fill Up

Facts

• According to a Times UK report, Lord Edis, the presiding judge for England and Wales, said that starting next week, the sentencing of criminals who are on bail should be delayed and some existing prisoners may be released early due to an expanding prison population.¹
• The order, which reportedly came from a meeting between Edis and other senior judges, said that cells in magistrates' courts are to be used to hold suspects of the most serious crimes. However, one senior judge said that convicted rapists of children under 13 could still remain on bail.²
• This comes as the prison population in the UK reached 88,016 last week, up more than 6.5K in a year and closing in on the maximum capacity of roughly 88,670. In response, the government last year announced the emergency use of 400 police cells through Operation Safeguard and, more recently, said it would try to rent prison cells in foreign countries.³
• The UK has also closed 13 prisons since May 2010, which has brought capacity down by more than 5K open spots. Though the government is planning to build a 2K-inmate super prison in Wrexham, critics have questioned whether the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) should slow the pace of prison closures.⁴
• While the MoJ cites the COVID pandemic and last year's lawyer strike as reasons for a backlog in cases, the President of the Prison Governors Association has blamed right-wing ministers for pushing for longer prison sentences and increasing sentences for existing crimes.³
• Despite the government projecting that the prison population is to grow to hundreds over its current capacity by next month, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said, 'There will always be enough prison places' to 'ensure that the guilty are convicted, the innocent walk free and the public are protected.'¹

Sources: ¹Sky News, ²Times, ³The Guardian and ⁴The Telegraph.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Telegraph. This dangerous situation has been years in the making, with the MoJ and other authorities having predicted the rise in the prison population as early as 2018. The government's claims of investing in so-called 'modern' prison places are largely unfulfilled, with 75% of them existing only on blueprints. Operation Safeguard, too, is inadequate, which is why violent criminals will begin walking the streets again if real prison infrastructure isn't built immediately.
• Narrative B, as provided by Gov UK. While it's true that less than half of the government's planned new prisons have been built, 5.5K have been, which itself is enough to hold the current number of convicts. Ministers are also working with European partners to rent prison space abroad, which will be a unique but effective tool. No one is sitting idly as England and Wales become overrun by prisoners — measures have been taken and communities will be kept safe as usual.