Now MPs want one-year prison sentences axed
Jails full of feral young kids, they say
PRISON sentences of less than a year must be abolished to tackle the ‘enduring crisis’ in our jails, MPs warn today.
They say many prisons are now overrun with ‘ feral young kids’ who have ‘no respect for authority’ and use ‘no language other than violence’.
Their report found a third of prisoners think it is ‘easy’ to get hold of drugs, with one in eight men developing a substance addiction while inside.
The Commons justice committee concluded by urging the Government to take a ‘fresh and decisive response’ by considering abolishing sentences of less than a year.
Its recommendations come weeks after Justice Secretary David Gauke called for sentences of less than six months to be scrapped, saying they are ‘simply not working’.
He suggested that community sentences, alongside treatment for mental health conditions and drug addictions, would be more effective for breaking the cycle of crime.
The committee’s report said: ‘We believe, in addition to [the Government’s] welcome move towards avoiding the use of sentences under six months, they should model the effects of abolishing sentences of fewer than 12 months.’
The report also revealed that the unfolding safety crisis in prisons has worsened in the past 15 months with assaults and self-harm at ‘record highs.’
In January, the Ministry of Justice released figures that showed there were nearly 34,000 assaults and 53,000 self-harm incidents in England and Wales in the year to last September, with both numbers having almost doubled in a decade.
The report also said the prison population has changed, with ‘old school prisoners’ and ‘big gangsters’ replaced by ‘feral young kids’. Citing Mark Fairhurst, of POA, the Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers, the report said: ‘There are [now] very few oldschool prisoners, as I call them, who are career criminals.
‘Most of them are big gangsters. They show staff the utmost respect. They just want to keep their heads down and get on with their sentence.
‘What you have now is a society issue. You are getting feral young kids who have no respect for authority, have no respect for themselves and have bullied their way through life.
‘They have no language other than violence and they do not like the word no.’
The prison population has almost doubled in 25 years, from 44,246 to 82,384 in December 2018. But moves to reduce the number by abolishing shorter sentences will prove hugely divisive.
Tory MP Philip Davies has previously described such proposals as ‘ludicrous’ claiming it would allow child rapists to roam the streets. He obtained figures last month showing criminals sentenced to six months or fewer had racked up an average of 55 offences each.
Prisons minister Rory Stewart said: ‘While prison will always be the only place for serious and violent offenders, there is persuasive evidence showing community sentences are often more effective in reducing reoffending than short spells behind bars.’