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Social services reforms do not address the needs of black children in care, say campaigners.

16 August 2007 The Voice Social services reforms do not address the needs of black children in care, say campaigners. A draft government plan to overhaul the state care system may be a step in the right direction, but black social work campaigners say that it fails to adequately address the needs of black and mixed-raced kids who are vastly overrepresented among children in care.

The Government published a white paper on childcare reforms in June with a raft of ideas to lift standards in institutions and agencies that give care or support caregivers as well as improve the overall life prospects of children in care, "the white paper is good thing", but campaigners argued that there needed to be substantial policy refinements to deal with the issues faced by black families whose children tend to be "fast-tracked into care".

Public right to fight 'yob crime'

16 August 2007 BBC News A senior detective investigating the murder of a man who confronted youths throwing litter said people are entitled to challenge bad behaviour.

Evren Anil, 23, died eight days after being punched by a teenager who tossed a half-eaten chocolate bar into his sister's car in south-east London. Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons said: "People are entitled to challenge these yobs' behaviour." Five people have been bailed over the attack in Crystal Palace on 5 August. Mr Anil, 23, of Upper Norwood, south-east London, fell into a coma soon after hitting his head on the pavement during the attack, and died on Tuesday.

Police chief calls drinks industry to account for yob culture

15 August 2007 The Times Communities are under siege from a hardcore of antisocial, under-age drinkers while parents, drinks companies and the advertising industry ignore their duty to tackle the problem, a senior police chief said yesterday.

In an unprecedented statement released just hours after three teenagers appeared in court charged with the murder of the father of three Garry Newlove, the Chief Constable of Cheshire said that society was failing to address the scourge of alcohol-fuelled violence among the young.

A nine-month resettlement package could drastically cut the cost of youth reoffending.

15 August 2007 The Guardian Deborah was 16 when she was jailed for two years, and knows how easy it is to get caught in the vicious cycle of re-offending on release. "A girl I was in prison with was released on a Friday, and she was walking back through the gates by Monday," she says. "That is really sad." Persistent young offenders aged 15 to 18 are given intensive supervision and support programme orders but, according to government figures, 91% are re-convicted within two years. A report out today puts the cost of youth re-offending at £80m a year. But it suggests that just £5m of central and local government investment - an average £8,074 per offender - in a more tailored support and rehabilitation package can cut re-offending rates and bring down the bill.

America seeks to end decades spent by prisoners on death row

15 August 2007 The Guardian The American justice department is reviewing legal procedures to speed up executions to prevent prisoners spending decades on death row. They say that the original intention of the law was that the gap between sentencing and execution should be short.

Although DNA testing has helped establish the innocence of more than a dozen death row inmates, conservative Republicans have yet to be persuaded about the case for delay. They believe some liberal judges opposed to the death penalty deliberately string out the legal process.

£950m bill forces rethink on computer tracking of offenders

9 August 2007 The Guardian The future of the computer system that is supposed to keep track of 300,000 offenders a year who are in prison or on probation is in doubt after ministers halted the programme this week. The moratorium follows an admission that the original £234m costing "proved to be optimistic".

Unions say the 2004 estimate has now risen to £950m. The rollout to 15 prisons next month and 15 more by the end of the year has been cancelled.

The new computer system is supposed to underpin the introduction of "end-to-end management" of convicted criminals through the National Offender Management Service (Noms) which oversees the prison and probation service. But Harry Fletcher, of Napo, the probation officers' union, yesterday claimed the project, which is six months late and supposed to be in full operation by next July, was "close to collapse".

Council of Europe rebukes UK on human rights

8 August 2007 The Guardian Key government policies including house arrest for terrorism suspects, the detention of asylum seekers and the use of antisocial behaviour orders were today attacked in a hard-hitting report from Europe's human rights watchdog.

No justice for Jean Charles

3 August 2007 The Guardian The Independent Police Complaints Commission's report into the cover-up of the killing of, Jean Charles de Menezes, is a damning indictment of the Metropolitan police. It shows the Met to have been in a shambolic, chaotic mess when Jean was killed, with no clear idea who was in control. We now know the stories that Jean Charles acted suspiciously or that he was wearing a bulky jacket or jumped the barriers at Stockwell tube station were untrue. And more importantly so did the police. The report has raised deeply shocking evidence about what was known on the day, and leaves more questions unanswered in regards to Sir Ian Blair.

Inmates left in limbo by failures in new sentences - judges

1 August 2007 The Guardian High court judges yesterday dealt a fresh blow to the government's handling of the prison crisis when they ruled that inmates serving new "open-ended" sentences had unlawfully been left in overcrowded local prisons without access to the compulsory rehabilitation programmes they need to secure their release.

Two appeal court judges said there had been a "general and systemic legal failure" in the treatment of more than 3,000 prisoners serving one of the new indeterminate public protection (IPP) sentences, under which they are supposed to be held until they no longer pose a risk to the public.

Youth on the Brink

30 July 2007 The Voice Already scarred by conflict-filled homes, deprived backgrounds and school troubles, many black youths are being led even further into trouble by Muslim extremists who are keen to get new recruits. Muslim extremists are targeting black youth with the promise of a better life but are luring them into selling drugs, which can be used to fund radical activities, and into becoming extremists.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said last week that while much depends on an individual's circumstances, it recognised: "there are some social factors that make vulnerable individuals more susceptible to being drawn into violent extremism than others.

Corporate manslaughter law to cover deaths in custody

24 July 2007 The Guardian Prisoners who are injured or killed while in custody will be covered by new corporate manslaughter laws, it emerged today. The government has caved in to criticism and agreed to extend the new legislation to prisoners and young offenders. The government yesterday agreed to introduce new protection for prisoners three years after the act comes into force. As a result the bill will become law this summer.

Rise in drugs prescribed for children suffering depression

23 July 2007 Daily Mail New government figures show that doctors are prescribing record numbers of pills to combat child stress, violent behaviour and anxiety quadrupling in the past decade. There are still questions over the implications of giving such a powerful and illicit drug to very young children. It is not licensed for people under the age of six, but doctors have prescribed it to children as young as 15 months. There is also concern that doctors are prescribing the drug without considering alternative treatments.

Unacceptable numbers of prison deaths at the turn of the decade

17 July 2007 The Guardian "We have seen scratching, head banging, people setting fire to themselves, severe lacerations, pulling out of tendons, people sewing their own lips up, even cutting parts of their bodies off," says Jez Spencer, describing a less typical day in his role managing the safer custody team in 14 regional prisons.

"Prisoners are regularly saved by prison staff who cut them down in the nick of time. In the women's prison, cutting prisoners down happens on a daily basis," he says.

The team is responsible for trying to reduce the number of prisoners self-harming or attempting suicide across the 14 prisons in south-west England and Wales. "The majority of cases are cutting, though," Mr Spencer says, matter of factly.

After a review of the unacceptable numbers of high prison deaths at the turn of the decade, the safer custody team was set up to help 'at risk' prisoners.

Danger that offenders would no longer be properly managed because of a series of added demands on probation officers

10 July 2007 The Guardian Public and press demands over the supervision of criminals cannot be met because the probation service is facing a tightening "squeeze", a government inspector warned today.

Andrew Bridges, the chief inspector of probation, said in his annual report there was a danger that offenders would no longer be properly managed because of a series of added demands on probation officers.

Problems cited in his annual report included rising case loads per officer, constant organisational change, less money, and delays in the introduction of a vital new computer system.

At the same time, Mr Bridges suggested that the public and the media were expecting the impossible from the probation service.

Teenager choked and died while being restrained by three guards at a privately-run youth prison

29 June 2007 The Guardian The death of Gareth Myatt, a teenager who choked and died while being restrained by three guards at a privately-run youth prison, could have been prevented, an inquest jury found yesterday.

Jurors criticised officials at the Youth Justice Board for failing to review the safety of the restraints used on teenagers in custody, which they said was one of the causes of his death. The verdict came just days after a political row over the Ministry of Justice's plans to clarify the rules governing the use of restraints in privately-run children's jails to allow staff to use them to enforce discipline and good order.

The 15-year-old, from Stoke-on-Trent, was the first child to die while being restrained in custody when he choked to death at Rainsbrook secure training centre in Northamptonshire in April 2004. He was three days into a six-month sentence when staff followed him to his room when he refused to clean a sandwich toaster in the communal area. The inquest heard that while he was being restrained the teenager, who was 1.47 metres (4ft 10in) tall and weighed less than 45kg (7st), tried to warn staff he could not breathe but was ignored.

Groups get £800k to tackle gangs

26 June 2007 BBC Community groups across England and Wales have been given £800,000 to tackle crime and gang culture among youths, Home Secretary John Reid said. The Damilola Taylor Trust, which was set up in the memory of the 10-year-old who was stabbed to death in 2000 in south London, received £300,000.

New law will see 3,000 more being sent to jail

24 June 2007 the Times Thousands more criminals will be sent to prison as a result of laws expected to be announced this week, Whitehall officials have privately admitted.

A key component of the new bill will introduce the violent offender order (Voo), which prevents violent criminals, after they complete their sentences, meeting certain people or going to places associated with their offending behaviour

Officials privately estimate this will add 3,000 to the prison population, because large numbers are expected to breach Voos, triggering jail sentences of up to five years. The rate of Asbo breaches exceeds 50%.

Concern over children in prison

21 June 2007 Premier Radio The UK's being accused of breaching the human rights of children locked up in prison. The Howard League for Penal Reform's handing a critical report to the UN. It says the infliction of pain to control youngsters in custody amounts to child abuse. Andy Keen-Downs- the Director of Prison's Advice and Care Trust told Premier painful restraint on children is wrong.

Only non-dangerous offenders will be freed
Brown announces £240m to build extra places

20 June 2007 The Guardian Between 1,500 and 1,800 non-dangerous offenders are to be released from prison next week, 18 days before the end of their sentence, in an effort to ease the prison crisis. The extension of the early release scheme was announced yesterday by Lord Falconer, the justice secretary, after the daily prison population in England and Wales hit a record of 81,016 on Monday.

The Ministry of Justice said the early release scheme would not apply to those who had committed serious sexual or violent crimes or who were serving more than four years, adding that the move would cut the daily prison population by 1,200. At the same time Gordon Brown announced that the Treasury was making £240m available to build an extra 1,500 prison places on top of the 8,000 already planned by 2012. The first 500 places are in the form of £80m-worth of "ready-built residential" units and will be in place by the end of the year.

Two thousand criminals are to be released early from jail to ease the prison overcrowding crisis, under plans being prepared by the Justice Secretary.

19 June 2007 The Times Lord Falconer of Thoroton, QC, has been forced to draw up proposals to open the gates as the eight-month overcrowding crisis deepens. Under the plan, up to 2,000 prisoners serving less than four years would leave jail early. Those considered for release are likely to be burglars, fraudsters and drug dealers. Offenders convicted of violent or sex crimes would not qualify.

Last night prison staff were bracing themselves for another surge in the numbers held in the 141 jails in England and Wales after police arrests over the weekend. Six sets of court cells were on standby to hold offenders in case there was not enough space in prisons and in emergency cells at police stations. It is estimated to have cost £30 million since last October to hold prisoners in police and court cells.

Ministers defy judges on rape law reforms

18 June 2007 The Guardian The government is to press ahead with plans to reform the rape laws in an attempt to increase the low conviction rate, despite strong opposition from the judges who will have to put them into effect, the Guardian has learned.

Plans to try to clarify the law on drunkenness and consent are set to be dropped. But ministers are likely to proceed with other proposals outlined in a consultation paper last year, Mike O'Brien, the solicitor general, said in an interview.

Black Majority Church Leaders Challenge Government to Work More Closely with Them to Solve Youth Problems

15 June 2007 Evangelical Alliance The Government should work more closely with black majority churches to bring about solutions to the "web of disadvantage" encountered by young black people in Britain today, black Christian leaders have said.

The Black Christian Leaders Forum spoke out in response to the Home Affairs Committee report on over-representation in the criminal justice system, released today.

The report found the primary cause of over-representation is social exclusion and its interrelated issues: educational underachievement and school exclusion, deprivation and poor housing, weaving a "web of disadvantage."

Dr Joe Aldred, Secretary for Minority Christian Affairs for Churches Together in England, said the forum welcomes the report, particularly because it raises a number of issues that the black Christian community has been concerned about for some time.

"I am sorry to say this rings true with me," he said.

"Churches have been working to try to address these issues, and there is every indication that where church has had a deep and real input into young people's lives, they fare far better in society."

Thousands of sex offenders receive cautions

11 June 2007 The Guardian Almost 8,000 sex offenders have received a police caution rather than being charged in the past five years, it emerged today. The crimes include 230 rapes and almost 2,000 offences involving children, a survey of police forces in England found. The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) insisted offenders were not being "let off", since the caution would still be noted on a criminal record and they would be entered on the sex offenders register.

Other offences that attracted a caution involved child pornography, bigamy, exploitation of prostitution, indecent exposure, acts against animals, sexual grooming and incest.

Inquiry after gun trafficking suspect shot dead by police

17 May 2007 The Guardian A man suspected of being a gun trafficker was shot dead by police in a raid at a house in London which officers believed was being used as a firearms store. Police said the victim, aged 52, was armed at the time, though officers would not say whether he had fired or raised his gun.

He was shot after being challenged by police in a planned operation conducted by officers from Operation Trident which investigates gun crime. The incident happened in a courtyard next to a row of garages belonging to flats in Ealing, west London, at 10.25pm on Tuesday. Paramedics tried to resuscitate the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The raid was carried out as police believed he was involved in gun trafficking and he was thought to have been about to take delivery of a handgun. Residents of the flats, near Park Royal Underground station, described a "war-like" scene with many police in which they heard up to 10 shots being fired in rapid succession.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which began conducting an inquiry into the shooting on Tuesday night, said that three officers fired a "number of shots" during the incident. The IPCC will look at whether the man shot at officers or whether his behaviour gave them reason to believe their lives were in imminent danger. It will also look at the planning of the operation as well as the way it was carried out.

Unborn babies targeted in crackdown on criminality

16 May 2007 The Guardian Blair launches policy imported from US to intervene during pregnancy to head off antisocial behaviour. Unborn babies judged to be at most risk of social exclusion and turning to criminality are to be targeted in a controversial new scheme to be promoted by Downing Street today.

In an effort to intervene as early as possible in troubled families, first-time mothers identified just 16 weeks after conception will be given intensive weekly support from midwives and health visitors until the unborn child reaches two years old. Unveiling the findings of a Downing Street review, Tony Blair will make clear the government is prepared to single out babies still in the womb to break cycles of deprivation and behaviour.

Police misconduct hearing planned

14 May 2007 BBC News Detectives who investigated the stabbing of a young father months before he was murdered will face a misconduct hearing. The family of Peter Woodhams, 22, of east London, claimed police failed to protect him from youths who harassed him in the months before his death. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) says two detectives should face a disciplinary hearing.

Bill on crime and justice under Blair will bring in new laws to tackle antisocial behaviour.

13 May 2007 The Times It will include proposals for community-based punishments for young offenders, powers to tackle rowdy neighbours and the scrapping of juries in serious fraud trials. It will be the first piece of legislation to be presented by the Ministry of Justice and opponents fear that it may also be used to change sentencing laws to help ease prison overcrowding. The Home Office will also unveil a terrorism bill to “tidy up” existing legislation.

Foreigners in UK jails cost £398m

2 May 2007 Daily Telegraph Keeping foreign nationals in overcrowded British jails is costing the taxpayer more than £398 million a year, it has been claimed. Figures obtained by the Conservative Party show that 15 per cent of the nearly 80,000-strong prison population are from outside the UK.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green, who brought the details to light through Parliamentary questions, said the situation was "truly shocking". Mr Green used the "snapshot" figures from the end of February to calculate costs based on Government estimates of £33,000 annual expenditure for each prison place. Some 164 nationalities are represented in British jails, according to the data.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "Mr Green rightly points out the large number of foreign nationals in UK prisons, but fails to mention that the dearest wish of many is nothing more than to go home. "Very many are drug mules, often coerced or tricked and seen as disposable by drugs barons, but given some of the toughest sentences of any in the prison system. The answer is smarter sentencing."

14-year-olds 'use cannabis daily'

18 April 2007 BBC News Teenagers as young as 14 are using cannabis every day, according to a study by Queen's University Belfast.

The researchers found about one in 10 cannabis-smoking teenagers they surveyed were using the drug daily. Dr Patrick McCrystal said cannabis use at a young age could lead to mental illness and other problems. "These young people are telling us that by the age of 15 they have moved beyond experimental or recreational use of an illegal drug to more sustained usage."

He said teenage daily cannabis users were "more likely to spend their evenings away from the family home, have poor levels of communication with their families, and be disaffected with school".

Private prison failings exposed

16 April 2007 BBC News An undercover reporter has unearthed evidence of intimidation and corruption at a privately-run prison, a Panorama investigation will say.

The reporter, who worked at Rye Hill, a category B prison in Warwickshire, for five months, says prisoners openly threatened a newly qualified officer. He also says he was asked by inmates to smuggle in mobile phones and drugs. GSL, which runs the jail, said inmates' behaviour was unacceptable but accused the reporter of ignoring his training.

In another incident, the undercover reporter says he was openly approached by inmates seeking to "groom" him into a smuggler. He reports being offered £200 for a standard mobile phone and up to £750 for a camera phone, to be paid to him by telephone banking. Another prisoner offered him up to £1,500 - more than he earns in a month from GSL - for one delivery of cannabis.

Mr Bates said the prisoners' behaviour was "completely unacceptable" and the reporter knew what they were doing was illegal. "If that officer had done what he had been trained to do - that matter would have been dealt with. He failed his colleagues and he put himself at risk," he added. Panorama: Life Behind Bars can be seen on BBC1 at 2030 BST on Monday 16 April

Blair blames spate of murders on black culture

12 April 2007 The Guardian Tony Blair yesterday claimed the spate of knife and gun murders in London was not being caused by poverty, but a distinctive black culture. His remarks angered community leaders, who accused him of ignorance and failing to provide support for black-led efforts to tackle the problem. One accused him of misunderstanding the advice he had been given on the issue at a Downing Street summit.

Black community leaders reacted after Mr Blair said the recent violence should not be treated as part of a general crime wave, but as specific to black youth. He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it".

It needed to be addressed by a tailored counter-attack in the same way as football hooliganism was reined in by producing measures aimed at the specific problem, rather than general lawlessness.

Mr Blair's remarks are at odds with those of the Home Office minister Lady Scotland, who told the home affairs select committee last month that the disproportionate number of black youths in the criminal justice system was a function of their disproportionate poverty, and not to do with a distinctive black culture.

Governors call for fewer jails

10 April 2007 The Guardian Prison governors have delivered an urgent warning to ministers that building new jails will not solve the criminal justice crisis and that too many minor offenders with mental health and alcohol problems are being locked up.

The Prison Governors' Association - whose members face the daily challenge of managing the record 80,000 jail population in England and Wales - has warned that a substantial overuse of new "indeterminate" sentences is creating chaos, and that inflexible "breach" procedures that see released offenders "whisked back into custody" for being late for appointments is driving prison numbers up.

Home Office to test watered-down version of Megan's Law

10 April 2007 The Guardian A watered-down version of Megan's Law which will give parents the right to know whether there are paedophiles living in their area is to be piloted.

Woman, 22, shot dead at home 'in row over parking'

7 April 2007 The Guardian A pregnant woman who was shot at point blank range on her doorstep yesterday morning may have been killed over a parking dispute, police said as they launched a murder inquiry.

Officers discovered the body of 22-year old Krystal Hart, who was six weeks pregnant, slumped in the doorway of her flat in Battersea, south-west London. She was shot at around 11am yesterday. Neighbours alerted the police and an ambulance was called but Ms Hart, a former civil servant, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Scotland Yard said it was investigating the possibility that her death was connected with a row over parking.

Probation staff fail to enforce punishment

4 April 2007 The Times Offenders are escaping punishment for breaking their community penalties because probation staff are not following Home Office guidelines, according to a watchdog report. The prosecution of offenders for breaching their community punishments is being ended simply on the grounds that a file on the case is not ready.

Today’s inspection report on the enforcement of community penalties also found that some probation staff believed that if proceedings were not launched within ten days of an offender breaching an order, it was impossible to take any court action. “Some staff took no action against some offenders even though there was clear evidence of unacceptable absences,” the report found. Probation services were urged to make greater efforts to ensure that offenders complied with the terms of their community penalties.

Cherie: we must help the young stay out of jail

1 April 2007 The Observer Prime Minister's wife says the prison system is producing repeat offenders. Britain's prison system is failing young offenders and contributing to soaring reoffending rates, Cherie Booth will say in a speech this week, highlighting her concerns about the treatment of young adults in custody.

Home Office to be split into two

The Home Office will be split into two separate departments for security and for justice in the next six weeks.

29 March 2007 BBC News The Department for Constitutional Affairs will take control of probation, prisons and prevention of re-offending and be renamed the Ministry of Justice. The slimmed down Home Office will then be left to concentrate on dealing with terrorism, security and immigration.

The house of Lords rejected a decision to build the UK's first super-casino in Manchester by just three votes.

28 March 2007 BBC News It means the plans will not be implemented, even though MPs backed the proposal by a majority of 24. The Lords vote also means that plans for 16 smaller casinos around the UK will have to be shelved. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said that, after the defeat, she wanted "to reflect on the outcome" and promised new proposals.

Offenders to get more community service and less jail time

27 March 2007 Daily Mail Tony Blair will today signal an end to his drive for ever-tougher sentencing by sending fewer prisoners to jail. The Prime Minister will instead place greater emphasis on rehabilitating offenders, tougher community sentences and crime prevention.

The document, setting out Labour policy for the next 10 years, will be welcomed by critics who labelled Mr Blair a failure on crime. It will recommend "tough and effective" community sentences, such as removing non-cash assets and driving licenses, instead of prison. Under the review, there will be a shake-up of the police service in England and Wales to make forces more accessible to the public and cut red tape for officers.

All children could be required to take a test to find out if they are at risk of becoming criminals, new government proposals unveiled today say.

27 March 2007 The Guardian The government plans to "establish universal checks throughout a child's development to help service providers to identify those most at risk of offending," the report says.

It adds that the checks could "piggyback on existing contact points such as transition to secondary schools".

So far, it is unclear what form such tests could take or whether they would involve police or probation officers, a personal interview with the child or a review of school and police records.

Education dropouts at 16 will face sanction, opposition criticises criminalisation of young

23 March 2007 The Guardian Teenagers who break a proposed new law making them stay in education or training after 16 could face £50 fixed penalty fines or Asbo-style attendance orders under radical plans to raise the school leaving age in England outlined yesterday.

The education secretary, Alan Johnson, said only "a very hardcore" of young people who refused to obey new laws to be phased in from 2013 would face criminal proceedings, but the "right carrots and sticks" had to be in place to ensure they were obeyed. He made clear that he did not want the very people he was trying to keep out of the criminal justice system or prostitution clogging up the courts for non-attendance.

Mandatory life terms mislead public, says lord chief justice

23 March 2007 The Guardian The lord chief justice yesterday voiced his opposition to mandatory life sentences for murder, saying they "misled the public". Lord Phillips put on record for the first time his disagreement with the government over the life sentence, which ministers insist must be retained to reflect the unique gravity of murder.

"Asking the question: 'Are mandatory sentences a good idea?', the answer is in relation to current law, I don't think they are. I think they mislead the public," Lord Phillips said. The public would be told that a man who put a pillow over the face of his sick wife in a mercy killing had been given a life sentence, but the reality was that he would serve only a very short time in prison, he added.

Lord Phillips made his comments at his first press briefing since succeeding Lord Woolf in the top judicial job.

‘Street justice’ for young thugs

19 March 2007 The Times Young first-time offenders are to be given a taste of “street justice” under proposals to keep thousands of juveniles out of the court system as part of an overhaul of precourt punishments for 10 to 17 year olds.

The Home Office proposals have come after warnings that the youth courts are cluttered with cases that should be dealt with informally.

Children caught committing minor offences will be given a “telling off” by police, ordered to apologise to their victims and told to clear up damage or mess they have caused.

But Enver Solomon, of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King’s College London, said: “There is a real danger that this measure will simply suck more children into the criminal justice system when their behaviour would be better dealt with by agencies other than police.” The plans are expected in a criminal justice Bill in May.

Prisoners to be put in cargo containers

18 March 2007 The Guardian Overcrowding crisis prompts government to import converted shipping units to use as cells

Cherie Booth backs restorative justice

15 March 2007 The Daily Telegraph Cherie Booth will call today for a huge increase of face-to-face justice, in which criminals meet their victims and apologise for their offences. The Prime Minister’s wife will warn that people’s long-term attitudes and behaviour does not change by sending them to jail.

“This impression has been reinforced when I have visited prisons and spoken to inmates. It seems that neither the court process nor the prison experience is helping them confront their behaviour or its consequences.

“It is clear that simply locking people up does not itself alter their long-term behaviour. In too many cases, it simply shelves the problem.”

Miss Booth’s intervention in the law-and-order debate is based on her 10 years sitting in courts as a recorder when she has had to sentence offenders. A series of restorative justice schemes in the community and in prisons are being piloted by the Home Office.

Miss Booth insisted that these programmes did not “soft-pedal on sin” but focused on how offenders could make a fresh start in life.

In the Radio 4 programme Lent Talk, she will say tonight that “restorative justice”, in which offenders meet those whose lives have been effected by their crimes, should be used as a matter of routine in cases involving assault, robbery and stealing.

She will also say that it should occur where appropriate in cases of domestic violence and sexual assault. Miss Booth said that when she sentenced an offender she often wondered whether the person felt any remorse for the crime or the effect it had on the victim.

Women's prisons have become our social dustbins.

14 March 2007 The Guardian They are now seen as a stopgap, cut-price provider of drug detox, mental health assessment and treatment - a refuge for those failed by public services. Twelve years ago, there were some 1,800 women in jail. Today there are 4,300.

Existing women's prisons should be closed down and replaced with small secure units

13 March 2007 The Guardian As part of a radical 10-year reform programme, an official report recommended today that existing women's prisons should be closed down and replaced with small secure units. The study by the Labour peer, Baroness Corston, was commissioned by the Home Office to investigate the way women offenders are treated by the criminal justice system. It was prompted by the self-inflicted deaths of six women at Styal prison in Cheshire between August 2002 and 2003.

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