The original article isbehind a paywall (higher than 12ft): https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/judges-told-not-to-jail-rapists-as-prisons-are-full-2tfgb2czs
I am expecting the announcement of a moon colony at any moment now.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Judges have been told to delay the sentencing of convicted criminals currently on bail – including rapists and burglars – because prisons are full, according to a report.
Earlier this year, in a court of appeal case, Edis said that for offences which attract shorter terms, judges and magistrates should consider imposing suspended sentences given “current prison population levels”.
Last year, the government announced Operation Safeguard, the emergency use of 400 police cells to hold inmates.
To much criticism, it recently said it would seek to rent prison cells in foreign countries to alleviate the squeeze in England and Wales.
In his court of appeal judgment in March, Edis cited a letter from the then justice secretary, Dominic Raab, which said: “Detention would be harsher than before on account of high occupancy levels, reduced access to rehabilitation programmes and the possibility of prisoners being detained further away from home.”
Speaking to Times Radio, the health secretary, Steve Barclay, refused to confirm or deny that judges had been told not to send some convicted criminals to jail owing to prisons nearing capacity but acknowledged prisons were under “huge pressure”.
The original article contains 548 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Here’s the Times article https://archive.ph/LJ010
The government’s pledge to build 20,000 new prison places by the mid-2020s, which was a key Conservative manifesto pledge at the 2019 election, has been quietly dropped. Less than half will have been delivered by March 2025, according to official projections. So far, 5,500 places have been delivered. Plans for three new prisons in Lancashire, Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire have all been delayed owing to problems gaining planning permission.
Sounds like the time for crime is now (:
The prison population has grown since then – to more than 88,000
Prison-build revolution continues with construction of new Yorkshire jail
Published 3 August 2022
Shovels to break ground on new prison this autumn
Construction to boost local economy with hundreds of jobs
Work signals latest major step toward 20,000 new prison places
If you take too long to get caught, might wind up in one of those new cells, though.
Time to start sending people to rehab instead
