Courts urged to postpone some sentences

The judiciary has asked lower courts to delay sending some criminals to prison in the coming weeks due to the unprecedented overcrowding crisis.

The directive to court managers comes as authorities struggle daily to find cells for offenders ahead of a new release strategy in September.

In the instruction, a senior judge urged court administrators to delay sentencing some offenders if they are likely to be jailed but are currently on bail.

Official figures show that the number of available prison beds in England and Wales has fallen to the point where there are only a few left in each facility.

As of Friday morning, 88,234 people were incarcerated in prisons. The prison population has increased by 738 people over the past fortnight, leaving around 1,100 beds free.

Many new inmates are either Rioters sentenced or suspects remanded in custody pending trial for their alleged involvement in disorder which occurred in England and Northern Ireland in late July and early August.

The instructions sent to magistrates’ court officials on Wednesday came from Lord Justice Green, a senior judge who oversees the courts’ workload.

He asked local officials to carefully consider how they plan cases ahead of the Justice Department hearing. expect more early releaseswhich is expected to come into effect on September 10.

The judge wrote that local court administrators should review all cases scheduled for sentencing up to and including September 6, when the defendant is currently out on bail. If a prison sentence is a possible outcome, consideration should be given to rescheduling the hearing as soon as possible, but not before September 10.

“The following direction is made in the context of the current challenges in our prisons,” the judge wrote.

“Each case must be considered on its own merits and decisions must be made in the interests of justice. It follows that this process must be cautious.”

The wording of the directive does not constitute a blanket order to delay sentencing for all offenders facing possible imprisonment – and it only applies to those facing a maximum sentence of six months – but it is the second emergency measure in a week aimed at managing the prison crisis.

On Monday, the government asked In the north of England and most parts of the Midlands, police are holding newly charged suspects awaiting court appearance in police cells until prison places become available.

Starting September 10, some prisoners will be released on parole after serving 40 percent of their prison sentence. The plan aims to free up several thousand cells, but it is no longer clear whether this will be enough given the growing number of prisoners and suspects linked to the riots.

Tom Franklin, chairman of the Magistrates’ Association, said the instructions to local courts were “another Band-Aid”.

“This latest emergency measure – even if it may prove necessary to deal with prison overcrowding until the mass release of prisoners on September 10 – demonstrates the need to inject more resources at every stage of the judicial process,” he said.

“We also need a serious discussion about the purpose of prison, and other types of punishment, such as community sentences.”