Thieves and common criminals could be spared jail, minister hints

A justice minister has opened the door to thieves, shoplifters and other common criminals being spared short jail sentences.

Sir Nic Dakin said short prison terms were more likely to result in making offenders “better criminals” rather than rehabilitating them and turning them into “better citizens”.

It is the strongest indication yet that Labour’s forthcoming sentencing review - due to be announced next month - could pave the way for scrapping many short jail terms. These would be replaced with community punishments geared towards rehabilitation, meaning some low-level criminals would avoid jail.

The review is expected to be headed by former Tory justice secretary David Gauke who argued that introducing a legal presumption against sentences of under a year and scrapping those under six months could reduce reoffending. His plans were shelved after he quit the Government when Boris Johnson became Tory leader.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, wants the review to provide “creative” solutions to tackle reoffending as well as the overcrowding crisis which has forced her to introduce an early release scheme freeing thousands of prisoners 40 per cent of the way through their sentences rather than halfway.

Asked about scrapping short sentences, Sir Nic said: “All the evidence seems to suggest that short sentences tend to make better criminals rather than better citizens. Where we will come from is that it is better to have a system that makes people better citizens than better criminals.”

However, speaking at a fringe event at Labour’s conference in Liverpool, he said community alternatives must be robust enough to satisfy the public’s demands for justice. “Anything that the sentencing review comes out with has to have the confidence of the general public,” he said.

‘Real and positive change’

Sir Nic also said that Lord James Timpson, the prisons minister in the Lords and a longstanding prison reform campaigner, was “probably right” when he said that “only a third of [prisoners] should definitely be there.”

“If that is what James said, that’s probably right. James is obviously leading on all of this stuff. James has a lot of personal experience and a wealth of knowledge in this area. He is speaking from understanding. If that is accurate, there’s a massive challenge and a massive opportunity in that challenge.”

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is expected to fast-track the review to complete it within six months because internal forecasts indicate that prisons in England and Wales will run out of space again within nine months largely because of a glut of more rioters from the summer disorder being jailed in the coming months.

In his landmark speech setting out his prison reform plans in July 2019, Mr Gauke said his research showed moving away from sentences of under six months “would deliver real and positive change, for the offenders to turn their lives around and for the safety of the public.”

The MoJ research estimated there would be about 32,000, or 13 per cent, fewer proven reoffences a year if criminals jailed for six months were instead given a community order. Sentences of under one year account for around two-thirds of people jailed in any one year - and disproportionately involve women.

Time off for good behaviour

Mr Gauke proposed three options of a ban on sentences under six months; a presumption against jail terms of under six months; or a combination of a bar on sentences under six months and a presumption against those under one year. Sexual, violent and terrorist offences would be excluded.

Alex Chalk, justice secretary under Rishi Sunak, revived the proposals for a presumption against sentences under one year, replacing them with suspended prison terms in order to place a “sword of Damocles” over offenders. If they breached their licences, they would be recalled to jail to serve their full sentence.

However, despite the plan being initially backed by the then-prime minister, Number 10 moved away from the plans following a revolt by backbench MPs. It delayed the Bill so long that it was lost in the parliamentary wash-up when Mr Sunak called the election.

Ms Mahmood is understood to believe a presumption against short sentences or a move to suspended sentences is a probable outcome of a review but also wants it to consider wider options such as Texas-style schemes enabling prisoners to earn time off their sentences for good behaviour and attending workshops.

An MoJ spokesman said: “The new Government inherited a justice system in crisis and has begun work to rescue and rebuild it so that prison creates better citizens, not better criminals. The Lord Chancellor has already confirmed plans to launch a review into sentencing and further details will be set out in due course.”