Knee-jerk reforms after tragic events have filled prisons to breaking point, report warns
PUBLIC outrage over atrocities and terror attacks has pushed the justice system close to collapse, the head of a sentencing review claims.
Knee-jerk reforms after tragic events have filled prisons to breaking point, his report for the Government says.
Author David Gauke, a former Tory Justice Secretary, has called for a “system reset”.
In the first part of the review, out today, he recommends replacing some short jail terms with community sentences.
The Independent Sentencing Review chairman said: “Last year we were confronted with the consequences of decades of haphazard policy-making and underinvestment in the criminal justice system — bringing it to the brink of collapse.
“Politicians had increased sentencing for individual crimes without considering the impact. It does not deliver justice for victims, it fails them.”
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The full analysis, due in the spring, will spell out how the Government will change the system.
The report accuses previous Governments of pursuing “penal populism” to try to show they are tough on crime.
However, Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp hit back last night: “The truth is that prison works.
The review signals that Labour wants to be soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime.”
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Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Labour should deport foreign national offenders and expand court capacity instead of plotting to abolish short sentences.”