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Tailoring sentences to the lack of prison places

(3 Posts)
Luckygirl3 Mon 01-Jun-26 18:10:16

"The judge, Recorder ZZ KC, said that while the offending was very serious and clearly warranted a custodial sentence, he said XX and YY were both hard-working men and prisons were full so he didn’t want to jail them."

The above from my local paper.

It is slightly worrying that a judge is openly saying that he has not been able to give the correct sentence because prisons are full. Their offence was serious - dealing drugs - and knowing that they are unlikely to get a prison sentence is going to encourage other dealers I fear.

Maremia Mon 01-Jun-26 18:30:12

It is concerning.

Casdon Mon 01-Jun-26 18:57:26

I read that the other day that a new prison is being built in Buckinghamshire - I’ve forgotten the name, but it will house 1500 prisoners, so quite an increase in total prison estate. Not sure when it will open though.