Press

A justice thinktank is scratching its head over the reasons behind a significant decline in the number of community sentences in England and Wales.

Use of non-custodial sentences in England and Wales has fallen sharply but risen significantly in Scotland, according to a report highlighting their effectiveness in preventing re-offending.
 

For much of its 135 years, Scotland’s largest prison has operated in the shadow of its own fearsome reputation. Glasgow’s Barlinnie, “Bar-L” to those who reside within, became synonymous with violence during the 20th century in much the same way as the city it was built to serve.

‘It was me against them… I didn’t trust anyone,’ says Suleman, an Asian Muslim man, summing up his experience of Crown Court. ‘I didn’t see anyone with a common background… judges and magistrates, they were the last people I trusted – elderly, white English people and that’s not what I see in society outside.’ 

Ethnic minorities make up 14% of our general population, yet make up 26% of our prison population. Whilst just 3% of people in Britain identify as Black British, in our prisons the proportion of black inmates is four times higher. Four times higher. A troubling discrepancy which cannot be shied away from.

Black and minority-ethnic defendants may be given more severe sentences at magistrate and crown courts because they distrust the criminal justice system and are reluctant to plead guilty, according to a legal thinktank.

Widespread distrust among British-born Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) people towards the English justice system is having a negative impact on the legitimacy of its criminal courts, according to a new report.

A dearth of data makes it difficult to understand the causes of racial disparity in the criminal justice system – a disparity that has created a ‘trust deficit’ for black and minority ethnic defendants.

Problem-solving courts, which are currently only used in adult settings, aim to address offending behaviour through the co-ordination of services, including and beyond those provided by youth offending teams (YOTs), to reduce crime and improve wider outcomes for children, victims, and families.

It seems Liz Truss launched the Prison and Courts Bill with the intention to do it all – do right by victims of crime; focus on offender education and health; reduce overcrowding; rehabilitating prisoners; empowering governors; make courts more efficient; saving people money on their car insurance premiums.

This article looks at some of the proposals in the Bill and reactions by stakeholders.