[STEED]

And this will come true, they have already done it once this year.

30,000 prisoners may go free early in overcrowding crisis

By JAMES SLACK 09:39am 16th August 2006

Jails have reached 'bursting point,' say officials



Up to 30,000 convicts may be freed early in a desperate bid to solve the prison overcrowding crisis.
John Reid is preparing to take the drastic step of cutting ten days from the sentences of all except the most dangerous inmates.
The move, which could be announced tomorrow, risks shredding his carefully-constructed image as a hardman Home Secretary.
It will also shatter his promise to 'rebalance' the criminal justice system in favour of the victim.
But Mr Reid's officials have decided there is no alternative as jails reach bursting point.
Whitehall sources admit, however, that the shock step will free only 500 spaces in the short term.
There are currently fewer than 500 places left in the country's 140 jails after the prison population passed the 79,000 mark for the first time.
Governors are already trawling young offender institutes for teenage convicts, including muggers and burglars, suitable for early release.
The new crisis plan, known as the 'ten days off' blueprint, will apply to all criminals serving four years or less except sex offenders and those regarded as highly dangerous.
It applies to around 30,000 convicts.
In most cases, the ten-day cut will be come on top of the automatic 50 per cent reduction in sentences given by the courts.
The plan's architects insist it will boost protection for the public by ensuring more capacity for the most menacing criminals to be locked up.
Sources said no final decision has been taken, and the plan still needs the approval of Tony Blair. But they say Mr Reid, who has promised to eventually build an extra 8,000 prison places, has no option.
Prison spaces
Critics say the move is a catastrophic consequence of the Government's failure to provide enough prison spaces.
Tories said it was unacceptable the public should be put at risk because of ministerial incompetence.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: 'What kind of Government thinks the answer to chronic overcrowding is to simply let dangerous criminals walk free early? It absolutely beggars belief.'
Any new crimes by inmates handed early freedom could have catastrophic consequences for the Home Secretary, who has built an image as the Government's 'enforcer'.
The crisis in the prison service has escalated rapidly in recent weeks.
More than 100 spaces have been lost as a result of a huge corruption probe at Pentonville Prison in north London. Some 14 staff were suspended on suspicion of smuggling phones and drugs to inmates, forcing the governor to cut capacity for security reasons.
Last night, a Home Office spokesman said: 'We are examining several proposals designed to alleviate the jail overcrowding problem'.
• Police stations face being filled with convicts after prison warders voted overwhelmingly in favour of a national strike.
Under secret contingency plans, inmates will be supervised by already overstretched officers if industrial action takes place.
Police would have to man the cells instead of trying to catch criminals.
It would also leave the taxpayer with a massive bill as keeping an inmate in a police cell costs £362 a night, compared to £66 in prison.
The row is over a 'derisory' 1.6 per cent pay offer, imposed in April this year, which the Prison Officers' Association claims is an effective pay cut. Options open to the union include not accepting new prisoners. Police cells could then have to be used.


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