Justice is not being done when prisoners are being released early or escaping sentences due to overcrowding

British law is underpinned by the principle that justice is done and seen to be done. But the creaking legal system shows that justice is falling way short of expectations.

Prisons are full and because of that offenders are being let out early. Official figures showed there were 88,521 people behind bars on Friday, 171 more than the previous record set at the end of last week.

The prison population has risen by 1,025 people over the past four weeks and now stands at its highest level since weekly population data was first published in 2011.

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However, sending prisoners to Estonia is not the answer. It sends the message to criminals that the justice system is not robust in this country.

A general view of HMP Pentonville. PIC: Victoria Jones/PA WireA general view of HMP Pentonville. PIC: Victoria Jones/PA Wire
A general view of HMP Pentonville. PIC: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Prison needs to be a deterrent first and foremost and by not having enough prison places on shore, it will only embolden offenders.

It would also leave the new Government open to accusations of hypocrisy.

Voters will remember how Labour was critical of the Tories’ suggestion of renting prison cells across Europe.

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But the fact that 119 serial offenders with more than 75 previous convictions in Yorkshire are dodging prison suggests that the system is fundamentally failing and needs to be fixed.

Of those, 15 were sentenced for violent offences, 90 sentenced for theft and one for sexual offences.

There needs to be a concerted effort to rehabilitate ex-offenders. It is no use releasing them after they have served their sentence without any support for them and the communities in which they have been released into.

Intervention to prevent re-offending is needed. Measures such as helping ex-offenders to find work, to re-educate themselves and engage with community projects have proven to work.

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