“The Government has been forced to house more than 45,000 prisoners in police cells under emergency measures to ease the jail overcrowding crisis.”
Daily Telegraph, 16th September 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Prisoner failing to return is not an escaper
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
“Where a prisoner who was on temporary release from prison failed to return to prison at the expiry of his release period, he could not be said to have escaped from custody and could not therefore be guilty of the common-law offence of escape from custody.”
The Times, 6th September 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“Predictions for the prison population suggest government building plans may not provide enough cells for inmates.”
BBC News, 31st August 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A Guardian/ICM poll published today overturns the assumption that the public think tough prison sentences are the best way to tackle crime. It shows that a majority of voters think the government should scrap its prison building programme and find other ways to punish criminals.”
The Guardian, 28th August 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The prospect of dangerous prisoners being released was raised yesterday by a High Court Judge who ruled that an inmate should be freed because of lack of facilities to assess whether he remained a threat to the public.”
The Independent, 21st August 2007
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Serious concerns have been raised in a new report into the use of a London court’s cells during the prison overcrowding emergency this summer.”
BBC News, 20th August 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Ministers are facing a new prison population crisis despite ordering the early release of thousands of inmates.”
Daily Telegraph, 15th August 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A damning report into Pentonville Prison has revealed “endemic squalor” at the oldest Victorian era jail.”
BBC News, 9th August 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The future of the computer system that is supposed to keep track of 300,000 offenders a year who are in prison or on probation is in doubt after ministers halted the programme this week. The moratorium follows an admission that the original £234m costing ‘proved to be optimistic’.”
The Guardian, 9th August 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Where a prisoner who was on temporary release from prison pursuant to r 9 of the Prison Rules 1999 failed to return to prison at the expiry of his release period, he could not be said to have escaped from custody and could not therefore be guilty of the common law offence of escape from custody.”
WLR Daily, 2nd August 2007
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note: once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Hundreds of dangerous prisoners given indeterminate sentences could be freed from jail after a court ruled yesterday that holding them longer than their minimum sentence was unlawful.”
The Times, 1st August 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“The Government’s problems in handling the crisis in the prison system were compounded today when the High Court ruled that the detention of prisoners with no facilities to assess their suitability for release was ‘arbitrary, unreasonable and unlawful’.”
The Independent, 31st July 2007
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“High court judges yesterday dealt a fresh blow to the government’s handling of the prison crisis when they ruled that inmates serving new “open-ended” sentences had unlawfully been left in overcrowded local prisons without access to the compulsory rehabilitation programmes they need to secure their release.”
The Guardian,
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Thousands of prisoners serving short-term indefinite sentences may have to be set free if a High Court ruling against the new Justice Secretary is upheld on appeal. ”
Daily Telegraph, 31st July 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Millions of pounds are set to be paid out by the Government to prisoners kept in jail beyond their release dates.”
Daily Telegraph, 29th July 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Prisoners who are injured or killed while in custody will be covered by new corporate manslaughter laws, it emerged today.”
The Guardian, 24th July 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Nearly 1,000 out of 1,390 criminals let out early to ease the jails overcrowding crisis had been assessed as too much of a risk to be released under the electronic tagging system, it has emerged.”
Daily Telegraph, 23rd July 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Cherie Booth QC missed the first meeting of an inquiry into English prisons yesterday because she has been on jury service. Her stint in the jury room is believed to have included sitting on at least one case.”
The Guardian, 21st July 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Prisons and police authorities will be liable for prosecution over deaths of people held in custody after a final defeat of the Government over the scope of new corporate manslaughter laws.”
The Times, 19th July 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
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