GOVERNMENT WEIGHS SOCIAL EVENT BAN FOR CRIMINALS – Courts Minister Sarah Sackman suggests the ban instead of prison time
Criminals could face bans from pubs, sports venues, and social gatherings instead of prison time under new sentencing proposals, according to Courts Minister Sarah Sackman.
Sackman said that such restrictions, along with mandatory community work, are being reviewed as part of a sentencing overhaul led by former Conservative Lord Chancellor David Gauke. The proposals, put forward by the Bar Council of England and Wales, aim to address the UK’s overcrowded prisons and a backlog of 73,000 court cases.
Additionally, the government announced an immediate halt to placing girls in young offender institutions due to rising self-harm rates. Instead, they will be placed in secure schools or children’s homes. Recent figures revealed that while girls make up less than 2% of youth custody, they account for over half of self-harm incidents.
In her first interview since becoming courts minister in December, Sackman also pushed back against claims from parliament’s spending watchdog that the government is failing to address the court case backlog with necessary urgency.
