Criminals could serve sentences at home
The moves come in response to official forecasts that jails will again run out of space by July next year, despite the early release of thousands of prisoners after serving 40 per cent rather than half of their sentences. More than 1,200 criminals jailed for more than five years will be freed early on Tuesday under the release scheme.In a statement to Parliament, Ms Mahmood is expected to confirm that David Gauke, the former Tory justice secretary, will head the review of sentencing that aims to ensure there will be enough space to lock up the most dangerous criminals, encourage offenders to turn their back on crime and expand punishments outside prison.The extension of HDCs to 12 months could pave the way for their wider use by judges for offenders who would normally go to jail. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows people on HDCs are half as likely to reoffend as those released straight from prison. Their use has already doubled in a year, with 4,000 freed prisoners on HDCs.“Theoretically a judge could hand down a sentence of house arrest,” said Ms Mahmood. “We have an opportunity now to reshape and redesign what punishment outside of a prison looks like.“I’m sure the review is going to want to look at all the different mechanisms that are out there to monitor offenders in the community, to supervise them effectively and then also to nudge their behaviour towards a rehabilitation activity that we know reduces re-offending.“So I’m interested in what punishment outside of a prison looks like. It still has to be punishment, they still have to have their liberty curtailed. People have to know and believe there are consequences to breaking our laws.”‘Nudge watches’Some 18,000 offenders are currently on tags, which have helped police solve crimes by enabling them to track the movements of suspects using GPS and place them at the crime scene at the time of the offence. The 3,000 sobriety tags – which detect alcohol in offenders’ blood – have achieved a 97 per cent compliance rate.Prison service officials are also keen for the review to explore the use of “nudge” watches worn by convicted offenders that can direct messages from probation officers to help change their behaviour and their “chaotic” lives.“We are particularly interested in nudge technology, like a wrist watch that says: ‘Have you got in touch with your probation officer? Have you turned up at your mental health treatment appointment?’” said a senior prison service source.“They’re not things that restrict your liberty, but they are very helpful in terms of behaviour compliance.”Community alternatives will be necessary because the review will consider scrapping most short sentences of under six months or potentially a year, which Mr Gauke advocated when justice secretary.Mr Gauke told ITV on Monday night: “The reoffending rate for those who have been in prison for a short amount of time is much higher than for those who served a community sentence.“There is a question about whether we can have more effective community sentences, particularly in the context of new technologies that are coming into play: the use of electronic tagging, the use of drug and alcohol monitoring. Is there more that we can do to make sure those community sentences feel like more of a genuine piece of punishment than perhaps they have been in the past?”Some prolific offenders could, however, face longer in jail so that prison officers and support staff have more time to provide intensive rehabilitation work to turn them away from crime.Texas scheme modelMs Mahmood wants the review to look at successful schemes from around the world, including Texas, where the Republican governor Rick Perry introduced “good behaviour” credits in jails, where prisoners could earn time off for taking part in rehabilitation and work schemes.She will visit Texas with Mr Gauke early in the new year to appraise the scheme, which halved reoffending rates, increased employment rates of ex-convicts by 50 per cent and enabled the authorities to close 16 jails after the prison population fell from 152,661 in 2007 to 129,653 last year. The crime rate also fell by 29 per cent.The review will also consider recategorising more offences as domestic abuse. The Government’s early release scheme has been criticised for excluding assaults even though the victims have been attacked by ex-partners. “We want the review to consider the broader framework when it comes to sentencing violence against women and girls,” said Ms Mahmood.It will consider reviving plans by the Tories for whole life orders for any murder involving sexual or sadistic conduct and for rapists to serve their full jail sentence rather than being released on licence.
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