Prison sentences of less than six months should be abolished, says minister

Short terms ‘long enough to damage you and not long enough to heal you’, says prisons minister Rory Stewart

Almost two-thirds of prisoners released after sentences of less than 12 months reoffend within a year (PA)

Prison sentences of less than six months should be abolished in England and Wales because they are less effective at cutting reoffending than community penalties, prison minister Rory Stewart has suggested.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the politician said the move would ease pressure on prisons while criticising short jail terms for being “long enough to damage you and not long enough to heal you”.

According to official figures. the prison population has doubled in England and Wales since the early 1990s, growing from 40,000 to more than 80,000 in 2018.

Almost two-thirds of prisoners released after sentences of less than 12 months reoffend within a year.

Mr Stewart believes a greater emphasis should be placed on rehabilitation, rather than punishment, for non-violent crimes.

“You bring somebody in for three or four weeks, they lose their house, their job, their family, their reputation,” he said.

”They come [into prison], they meet a lot of interesting characters, to put it politely, and then you whap them on to the streets again.”

The minister added: “The public are safer if we have a good community sentence ... and it will relieve a lot of pressure on prisons.”

The proposed prison reform, which would require new legislation, would see around 30,000 criminals, including burglars and most shoplifters, spared jail, the Telegraph reports. Mr Stewart said exceptions would be made for violent or sex offenders.

The Ministry Of Justice cited research that indicated “short sentences are too often ineffective, provide little opportunity to rehabilitate offenders and lead to unacceptably high rates of reoffending”.

In Scotland judges are already guided by a legal presumption against sentences of less than six months. The policy is expected to be extended to 12 months after reoffending rates dropped to their lowest levels for nearly two decades.

The Prison Reform Trust applauded Mr Stewart for “having the political courage to start the debate”.

A spokesperson for the charity told The Independent: “We very much welcome the moves to cut sentences. This is in line with evidence that shows community sentences are more effective at reducing reoffending.”