PUNISHING THE PRISONERS
MORE DAYS ARE BEING ADDED ON TO CURRENT SENTENCE LENGTHS THAN EVER BEFORE
P RISONERS are having more days added to their sentences as a form of punishment than ever before. Some 16,756 days - the equivalent of 46 years - were dished out as extended sentences in 2016, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice.
That is the highest figure on record and nearly a third more than the 13,000 days (or 36 years) added in the previous year.
The number of days added as a punishment has nearly doubled since 2011, when it stood at 8,690 days.
An increase in sentence length is one of various punishments a prisoner can receive for bad behaviour behind bars. Punishable offences include attempts to escape prison, violent behaviour, and disobedience and disrespect towards staff. More than half of the extra days given as punishment - a total of 9,594 - were because a prisoner had been found taking part in unauthorised transactions. This offence includes the discovery of illicit items in a prisoner’s possession, such as mobile phones and drugs.
Some 14 per cent of sentence lengths were extended because of violent behaviour, and a further 14 per cent because of disobedience and disrespect.
The number of “punishment days” added to sentences may be increasing, but they are not the most common punishment handed out to badlybehaved prisoners.
The most common is a forfeiture of privileges, imposed 79,866 times in 2016.
Prison privileges can include televisions in cells, extra visits, and access to private money.
On a further 47,364 occasions prisoners had their earnings stopped, and there were 25,191 incidents of prisoners confined within their cells for up to three weeks a time.
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Prisons are routinely and increasingly resorting to draconian punishments in a counter-productive attempt to tackle problems that stem from overcrowding and staffing shortages.
“Additional imprisonment piles pressure on the prison system and worsens overcrowding, which in turn creates conditions for drug abuse, violence and other types of misbehaviour.
“It is surely time to follow the example set in Scotland, where scrapping additional days’ imprisonment has made prisons fairer and safer.”
Offenders can be given more than one punishment for each offence. In 2016, there were 111,332 proven offences, meaning an average of 1.7 punishments were given per offence. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Rehabilitation starts with conformity to prison rules, and incentives are an important part in helping offenders do this. Rewarding prisoners for both good behaviour and engaging with education and work helps prepare them for law-abiding lives upon release. “We are also clear that anyone found breaking prison rules will face tough punishments – including the stripping of privileges and additional time behind bars.”