Ministers have proposed to ban criminals from pubs and sports events instead of imprisoning them for their crimes. This kind of proposal to ban criminals from pubs and sports events instead of imprisonment could have a significant impact on the local community.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Court Minister Sarah Sackman spoke about the proposal of banning criminals from sporting
00:08games and pubs in lieu of prison time. She said that the bans, as well as mandatory work
00:14for offenders, were very much part of the mix, amid an ongoing government review of
00:19prison sentences. The review, which was chaired by Tory former Justice Secretary David Gauke,
00:25was launched in October in order to consider ways to punish offenders outside of prisons
00:30in a way that could ease the overcrowding crisis. Prisons across England and Wales are
00:36severely overcrowded, with the prison population projected to increase to over 100,000 by 2028.
00:44This overcrowding is due to a combination of factors, including a growing prison population
00:48and a lack of new prison capacity. But why are prisons overcrowded? Well, this is due
00:54to multiple factors. These include tougher sentences and some sentences getting longer.
00:59A rise in violent and sexual offenders is also a factor. One in three prisoners are
01:04now guilty of a violent offence in England and Wales, the highest figure since at least
01:102015. In an attempt to aid prison overcrowding a few months ago, the government released
01:151,100 more prisoners early. Offenders serving more than five years were released on licence.
01:21This scheme excluded those convicted of serious violence, sex crimes and terrorism. Speaking
01:27about the proposal, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said that the Lord Chancellor
01:32launched the Independent Sentencing Review to ensure that sentences punish offenders
01:37and protect the public, encourage prisoners to turn their backs on a life of crime and
01:42explore greater use of punishment outside of prison. The response added that
01:47the review, which is led by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke, will report on their findings
01:52in the spring. The government is reportedly speeding up the deportation of foreign criminals
01:57at the moment, using a squad of specialist staff across the prison estate in order to
02:02free up spaces in overcrowded jails. At the moment, ministers are grappling with 73,105
02:10backlogs of court cases. A Tory MP said that the department had simply accepted the high
02:16record of Crown Court backlog, which would continue to grow after the recruitment of
02:21more than 20,000 police officers and a rise in complex cases in the nation.