Law Weblog

Prison population at all-time high

Friday 6 October 2006 at 10:52 pm | In News | Post Comment

The number of inmates in UK prisons reached 79,754 on Wednesday. There are fewer than 250 spaces left. The record population has been caused by high conviction rates, longer sentences and more short jail terms.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips said earlier this year that one of the reasons for the number of prisoner was because more short sentences are being given for relatively minor offences compounded by judges no longer having discretion over some sentences.

There is also a large cohort of people waiting deportation, and foreign criminals serving their sentences who could be deported.