UK has the most prisoners serving life

The UK has the highest number of prisoners serving life sentences in Europe, according to a report published by the Prison Reform Trust.

Analysis of 2016 data found UK jails were holding 8,554 inmates serving life – more than France, Germany and Italy combined. Turkey and the UK accounted for two-thirds of the life-sentenced prison population in Europe, the study added. The findings are based on analysis of Council of Europe data.

Theprt’sreportincludes a section on indeterminate sentences, by Professor Dirk van Zyl Smit and Dr Catherine Appleton from the University of Nottingham. It said: “The UK’S use of indeterminate sentences is plainly out of kilter with the majority of international comparators.”

Peter Dawson, PRT director, said: “A substantial minority of the prison population is serving sentences characterised by an absence of hope and in many cases a sense that punishment, though deserved, has ceased to be proportionate or just in its administration.

“This has profound implications for the way of life prisons provide, if the treatment of those serving the longest sentences is to be both humane and purposeful.”