The Government has pledged £4 billion to build 20,000 new cells by the mid-2020s to help cope with an anticipated rise in the prison population. As space in jails across England and Wales runs low, let’s take a look at the news that could see a lot of prison sentences for criminals scrapped.
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00:00 Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced that prison sentences of less than a year will
00:05 be scrapped for most criminals under government plans to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis.
00:11 Chalk went on to say that there will be a new legal presumption that offenders facing
00:16 jail sentences of under 12 months will instead be "punished" in the community by doing
00:21 unpaid work such as cleaning up neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls.
00:26 These criminals are thought to be fitted with a GPS or tag and placed under curfews of up
00:30 to 20 hours a day at weekends.
00:33 Repeat offenders found breaching their suspended sentences will then be returned to court where
00:39 they will face having to serve the full term in prison.
00:42 This new premise is set to include burglars, thieves, shoplifters, drug dealers and drink
00:47 drivers but will exclude criminals convicted of any sex, violent or terror offences.
00:52 Recently the prison population hit a record high wherein only 557 places were left.