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Crime Solicitors

Leading judge questions value of short jail terms (26 November 2013)

Date: 26/11/2013
Duncan Lewis, Crime Solicitors, Leading judge questions value of short jail terms

Senior judge Lord Neuberger has provoked a backlash by criticising prison conditions – and suggesting that short jail terms interrupt prisoners’ home lives and jobs.

Lord Neuberger was writing in the magazine Independent Monitor – a magazine for prison monitoring boards – about a visit he paid to women’s prison Holloway in north London this year.

He criticised the cheap furniture in prison cells, as well as expressing “astonishment” at the apparently low spend on prisoners’ meals at under £2 per prisoner per day – and the fact prisoners had to share cells when “most” would prefer to have a cell of their own.

Lord Neuberger’s criticism of short sentences and prison conditions is being seen as a challenge to government policy – ministers have previously said that short prison sentences are an effective way of dealing with some criminals.

Lord Neuberger is president of the Supreme Court and is also facing a backlash for apparently only seeing the prisoner’s point of view in his article –
Lord Neuberger also criticised what he termed as “bossy notices” on prison walls.

The senior judge did concede, however, that if a prisoner required treatment for issues such as substance abuse or employment training, there was “no point” in being in prison for less than six months.

Director of the Centre for Crime Prevention, Peter Cuthbertson, said it was wrong to look at sentencing from the prisoner’s point of view:

“It’s a huge mistake to view sentencing only from the point of view of criminals, without thinking of their many potential victims – even short sentences can give communities a respite from hardened criminals,” said Mr Cuthbertson.

“Putting away serious, repeat offenders for even a few months can prevent dozens of crimes – but longer prison sentences do have a much better record for cutting reoffending,” he added.

“If Lord Neuberger thinks short sentences don’t do the job, figures show we should use prison for longer, rather than not at all.”

Short jail terms of between three and six months were handed out to 18,724 criminals in the year to March 2013, with 25,165 receiving sentences of three months in jail.

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Duncan Lewis criminal solicitors regularly attend police stations, Magistrates Courts and Crown Courts, as well as prisons – and can advise on the rights of prisoners, as well as appeals against conviction or sentencing.

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Contact Duncan Lewis criminal lawyers on 020 7923 4020 – or call the Duncan Lewis Emergency Hotline on 0203 7275 2036.


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