'Sentencing frenzy' will fill prisons within weeks

Head of Britain's prison governors says that too many of those involved in the riots are being locked up

the Independant

Sunday, 28 August 2011

The leader of Britain's prison governors accused magistrates of indulging in a sentencing "feeding frenzy" as prisons near capacity. Eoin McLennan-Murray, president of the Prison Governors Association (PGA), said courts had shown "naked popularism" in meting out tough justice after the riots.

Seven in 10 of those charged with riot-related offences have been remanded in custody, likely to receive a custodial sentence, compared with only one in 10 of those charged with serious offences last year. The PGA warns that if people continue to be put behind bars at such a rate, prisons will be full by mid-September.

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