Latest news with #JusticeSecretary
Telegraph
18-07-2025
- Telegraph
Prisoners released early in ‘sentencing error'
Criminals have been released from jail early 'in error' or illegally held longer than their release date at a 'dysfunctional' jail, watchdogs have revealed. Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, has served an urgent notification on HMP Pentonville after discovering that scores of inmates have been kept in prison after they should have been freed or accidentally released early because staff 'failed to calculate sentences accurately'. The watchdog said data from the prison showed 130 inmates – 20 per cent of those eligible for release – had been held illegally after their release date in the past six months. Ten prisoners were released early 'in error' between July 2024 and June 2025. In a letter to the Justice Secretary, the chief inspector said arrangements for new prisoners' first night at the north London jail and induction were 'chaotic and even frightening'. Men were held in dirty cells missing bedding, furniture, telephones and pillows, the watchdog said. The majority of prisoners were locked in their cells for more than 22 hours a day. The report also said 60 per cent of prisoners were sharing cells designed for one person, many living areas were dirty and there was a widespread infestation of mice and cockroaches. Inspectors took emergency action after they found oversight of prisoners under constant supervision was 'shockingly poor', with one prison officer found asleep, two reading books and another 'completely absent'. The 'unacceptable practices' in the care of prisoners under constant supervision was a particular concern for inspectors given three suicides at the jail in 2025. 'Shocking failures' Mr Taylor said: 'Pentonville is an overcrowded, inner-city, Victorian prison with a record of poor performance over many years. 'Too many of its staff have become disillusioned about the possibility of improvement or their capacity to affect change. Yet many of its shocking failures are firmly within the control of leaders. 'The governor will need significant support and investment from HM Prison and Probation Service to strengthen his senior leadership team, re-focus on the basics and put in place effective oversight and assurance systems to turn this failing prison around.' A survey of prisoners also revealed that 44 per cent told inspectors they felt unsafe at the time of inspection, which the watchdog said was the highest figure recorded during his tenure as chief inspector. Pentonville is the 10th prison to be issued with an urgent notification since November 2022, following Exeter, Cookham Wood Young Offender Institution, Woodhill, Bedford, Wandsworth, Rochester, Manchester and Winchester prisons. The emergency measure was introduced in 2017 as a way to raise immediate concerns following an inspection, which requires a response and action plan by the Justice Secretary within 28 days. Elsewhere, the inspector's report also found that when releases were planned, 23 per cent of those prisoners were homeless on the day they were released, and very few had employment on release. 'Undermines effective sentence planning' Reacting to the urgent notification, Pia Sinha, the Prison Reform Trust chief executive, said: 'Prisoners illegally held after they should have been released, or others released early in error, further undermine effective sentence planning and erode public confidence. 'This urgent notification must be a rallying cry for immediate action – fix the failing infrastructure, improve staff training and treat prisoners with dignity.' Andrew Neilson, the director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the findings of the inspection were 'outrageous' and represent a 'new low' for an overcrowded public service on the brink of collapse. He added: 'While the Government inherited a dire state of affairs in prisons, it has had more than a year to bring about change. 'As report cards go, such a dire account of dysfunction in Pentonville instils little confidence that ministers have a grip of the situation.'
The Independent
17-07-2025
- The Independent
Cockroach-infested jail put into special measures for illegally detaining prisoners
A cockroach-infested jail which illegally detained prisoners for longer than their release date has been put into special measures by a watchdog. An urgent notification on HMP Pentonville, in north London, has been served by Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor after an inspection discovered many inmates have been kept in prison after they should have been freed because staff 'failed to calculate sentences accurately'. The watchdog said data from the prison showed 130 inmates – 20 per cent of those eligible for release – had been held illegally after their release date in the last six months. The backlog in sentencing calculations also meant 10 prisoners had been released early 'in error' between July 2024 and June 2025. In a letter to the Justice Secretary, the chief inspector said arrangements for new prisoners' first night at the north London jail and induction were 'chaotic and even frightening'. Men were held in dirty cells missing bedding, furniture, telephones and pillows, the watchdog said, while the majority of prisoners were locked in their cells for more than 22 hours a day. The report also said 60% of prisoners were sharing cells that were designed for one person, many living areas were dirty and there was a widespread infestation of mice and cockroaches. Inspectors took emergency action after they found care of vulnerable prisoners under constant supervision was 'shockingly poor', with one prison officer found asleep, two were reading books and another was 'completely absent'. The 'unacceptable practices' in looking after these prisoners, deemed at serious risk of self-harm, were a particular concern for inspectors given three suicides at the jail in 2025. Mr Taylor said: 'Pentonville is an overcrowded, inner-city, Victorian prison with a record of poor performance over many years. 'Too many of its staff have become disillusioned about the possibility of improvement or their capacity to affect change. Yet many of its shocking failures are firmly within the control of leaders. 'The governor will need significant support and investment from HM Prison and Probation Service to strengthen his senior leadership team, re-focus on the basics, and put in place effective oversight and assurance systems to turn this failing prison around.' A survey of prisoners also revealed 44% told inspectors they felt unsafe at the time of inspection, which the watchdog said was the highest figure recorded during his tenure as chief inspector. Pentonville is the 10th prison to be issued with an urgent notification since November 2022, following Exeter, Cookham Wood Young Offender Institution, Woodhill, Bedford, Wandsworth, Rochester, Manchester and Winchester prisons. The emergency measure was introduced in 2017 as a way to raise immediate concerns following an inspection, which requires a response and action plan by the Justice Secretary within 28 days. Elsewhere, the inspector's report also found when releases were planned, 23% of those prisoners were homeless on the day they were released, and very few had employment on release. Reacting to the urgent notification, Prison Reform Trust chief executive Pia Sinha said: 'Prisoners illegally held after they should have been released, or others released early in error, further undermine effective sentence planning and erode public confidence. 'This urgent notification must be a rallying cry for immediate action – fix the failing infrastructure, improve staff training, and treat prisoners with dignity.' Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the findings of the inspection were 'outrageous' and represent a 'new low' for an overcrowded public service on the brink of collapse. He added: 'While the Government inherited a dire state of affairs in prisons, it has had more than a year to bring about change. 'As report cards go, such a dire account of dysfunction in Pentonville instils little confidence that ministers have a grip of the situation.' Prisons minister Lord James Timpson said he visited the prison on Thursday, where the team is already working to urgently address the concerns raised by the chief inspector. An action plan will also be published in the coming weeks to support the efforts. Lord Timpson said: 'This Government will end the chaos we inherited in our jails. 'We are building 14,000 new prison places and reforming sentencing so our jails reduce reoffending, cut crime, and keep victims safe.'
The Sun
09-07-2025
- The Sun
Dozens of electric fans delivered to struggling prison to help lags cope with upcoming heatwave
DOZENS of electric fans have been delivered to a struggling prison to help inmates cope with the upcoming heatwave. The £17.50 devices arrived at Victorian HMP Bedford this week — with temperatures set to reach 31C this weekend. The crumbling prison has two inmates to each cramped cell, leading to baking temperatures in hot weather. An inspection last year found filthy conditions, with calls for the jail to go into emergency measures. The Category B prison holds some 420 men and has had a series of problems, with riots in 2016. Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said conditions were 'some of the worst' he had seen. The Sun visited the site with the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood last year and saw piles of contraband vapes and cigarette packs, with the smell of cannabis present. Wardens showed improvised weapons including loo brushes fitted with blades and toothbrushes melted to form spikes. A Prison Service spokesman said: 'Fans can be purchased by prisoners using their own money.' The Prison Watchdog this week warned that lags in Britain's jails are spending their sentences getting high and watching daytime TV. A menu of substances including cannabis, cocaine, and steroids is on offer, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor says. Drones used by criminal gangs are so accurate that they can deliver drugs and weapons, such as zombie knives, directly to specific windows. Inside Belmarsh: Secrets of Britain's most notorious prisoners 1
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Thousands of defendants could be stripped of the historic right to trial by jury under new justice review
Thousands of defendants a year could be stripped of the historic right to a jury trial under radical proposals. A review commissioned by the Justice Secretary set out a range of measures to slash the Crown court backlog. It also proposed increased use of 'out of court' punishments – often dismissed by critics as a mere 'slap on the wrist' – for lower-level offenders. As revealed by the Mail yesterday, the review said criminals who plead guilty should get up to 40 per cent off their jail terms, up from the current maximum of one third. Under its main proposal, instead of suspects' guilt or innocence being decided by a jury they would face trial by a judge sitting with two magistrates in a new type of court. The major, 380-page report by retired senior judge Sir Brian Leveson said the move would save 9,000 Crown court sitting days a year, freeing up space for more serious cases to be heard in jury trials. The report did not say how many cases would switch to the new court – to be called the Crown Court Bench Division (CCBD) – but it is likely to be thousands each year in England and Wales. Jury trial would be removed for more than 170 types of crime, including sexually assaulting a child, causing death by careless driving, incest, firearms offences and importing drugs including Class A substances like heroin. The CCBD would be estimated to deal with cases 20 per cent more quickly than a regular Crown court trial, Sir Brian said, and it would have the same sentencing powers. His report added: 'Only through the combined impact of these measures can government start to overcome the current crisis and reduce the risk of total system collapse.' The current Crown court backlog stood at a record 76,957 cases at the end of March – with trials now being listed to take place in 2029 – while in magistrates' courts 310,304 cases were awaiting a hearing. The review called for 'greater use' of out of court resolutions such as cautions, community punishments and fixed penalty fines. Police and prosecutors should even review the current court backlog to see if cases would be suitable for out of court punishments, it said. 'It's not soft on crime at all. It is trying to tackle those areas of crime that are not presently being tackled,' Sir Brian said. He said the Government should find money to increase the number of Crown court sitting days by 20,000 a year to 130,000 to 'maximise the effectiveness' of his proposed reforms. It would cost £1billion by 2029-30, the report said. The courts report comes in the wake of separate Labour plans to shake-up prison sentences. A review published in May by former Tory justice secretary David Gauke – and accepted in principle by Labour – proposed allowing some criminals out of jail after serving just a third of their sentence. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'Taken together, the Leveson and Gauke reviews will see criminals like burglars and even some killers serve just a fifth of their prison sentence. 'That makes a mockery of our justice system.' Victims' Commissioner Baroness Newlove welcomed the report's 'bold, radical proposals' but added: 'For many victims, plans to increase sentence discounts for guilty pleas and expand out of court disposals will feel like justice being diluted once again.' Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she will consider the recommendations before publishing legislative changes in the autumn. Changes risk hollowing out the concept of punishment Analysis by David Barrett An art installation at the Ministry of Justice's brutalist HQ in Westminster offers passers-by the chance to brush up on a series of historic legal quotations. One extract displayed in white lettering on its plate glass windows comes from the Bill of Rights 1688. 'That excessive Baile ought not to be required nor excessive Fines imposed nor cruell and unusuall Punishments inflicted,' it reads. 'That Jurors ought to be duely impanneled and returned.' Perhaps Sir Brian Leveson did not glance at the artwork yesterday as he arrived at the building to brief journalists on his report, the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Once the Press conference was under way, Sir Brian was insistent his proposal to significantly curtail the right to a jury trial was Really Not That Much Of A Big Deal. Then, someone in the briefing made the mistake of mentioning Magna Carta. 'With great respect, Magna Carta did not call for trial by jury. Magna Carta talked about trial by peers,' Sir Brian bristled. He expanded the same point further in his weighty report, saying there is no constitutional right to jury trial. Whatever the historical origins, Sir Brian's proposals feel like a watershed moment. More than 170 crimes should no longer be eligible for jury trial, his report says. A very similar proposal was put forward 24 years ago under Tony Blair's New Labour, in a report by another judge, Sir Robin Auld. But it fell by the wayside after the director of civil rights group Liberty condemned the 'huge attack on fairness in the criminal justice system'. This time, Labour is trying to deal with a massive backlog in the courts and is far more likely to push on through. Other recommendations in Sir Brian's report will lead to shorter jail terms or no proper punishment at all. Labour has already introduced policies which are allowing tens of thousands more criminals a year out of jail early and it plans to go even further. The deeply troubling aspect of these changes is that Labour is rushing headlong into simultaneous and over- lapping reforms. It comes at a high risk that over-eager ministers will hollow out the justice system and the very concept of punishment itself.
Telegraph
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
High-profile sex criminals could be granted trial without jury
High-profile suspects in sex cases that have shocked the nation could get the right to seek a trial without a jury under plans to be considered by ministers. A review commissioned by Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, is expected this week to recommend defendants should get the right to ask for a judge-only trial as part of 'once-in-a-generation' reforms to tackle chronic court backlogs. High Court judge Sir Brian Leveson, the review's author, has suggested that this could include suspects whose crimes have garnered so much 'public opprobrium' that they might feel the suspect would be unlikely to get an 'objective' trial by jury. In a previous review, he indicated this reform could include defendants charged with sexual or sadistically violent offences or suspects from minorities or sects who might consider a judge to be more objective than a jury. The move to give a right to opt for a judge-only trial would replicate similar systems in the US and Canada, where defendants in all Crown Court trials have the right to refuse a jury. An alternative model in New Zealand limits the option to less serious offences carrying maximum sentences below 14 years in jail. Sir Brian signalled the approach last month in a speech to legal experts, although he stressed a judge would require the discretion to reject any request. 'I'm also going to talk about the extent to which a defendant should be allowed to elect to be tried by a judge alone, as happens in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand,' he said.
