EXCLUSIVE Two-thirds of Britons back chemical castration of paedophiles and sex offenders - amid warnings doctors may 'refuse to carry it out if made mandatory'

Daily Mail​

23-05-2025

Two-thirds of Britons back chemically castrating sex offenders - with majority support from supporters of all main political parties, a poll revealed today.
Some 67 per cent back the policy while 16 per cent oppose it, after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood revealed this week that 20 prisons will pilot the idea.
Those who voted Reform in the last general election are the most likely to 'strongly' support the idea at 59 per cent, followed by Conservative voters at 44 per cent.
Labour voters follow on 37 per cent, then those who backed the Liberal Democrats on 33 per cent, according to the YouGov study of more than 4,500 adults in Britain.
However all four parties have a majority of voters who either 'strongly' or 'somewhat' support the policy, compared to those who 'strongly' or 'somewhat' oppose it.
It comes as the Government is now exploring whether to enforce the chemical castration on offenders as mandatory, after recommendations from the independent sentencing review to explore its use further to reduce the risk of reoffending.
The review led by former justice secretary David Gauke recommended reforms to overhaul the prisons system and make sure there is space to jail the most dangerous offenders after a string of emergency measures to deal with the capacity crisis.
It also looked at ways to cut reoffending, with one proposal to consider further use of chemical suppressants, which is currently being piloted in South West England.
The Government has also agreed to scrap the use of short sentences of less than 12 months, apart from exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases, and extend the length of suspended sentences from two to three years.
The YouGov poll found 58 per cent of Britons oppose scrapping short prison sentences of less than 12 months, while 23 per cent support it.
The Probation Service will receive a funding boost of up to £700million by 2028/29 to meet the extra demand of more offenders serving their sentences in the community.
Meanwhile there have been suggestions that some doctors may refuse to carry chemical castration procedures.
Don Grubin, emeritus professor of forensic psychiatry at Newcastle University, told BBC Radio 4's World at One: 'I don't know quite how it would work and we certainly don't support it.
'We've always resisted suggestions for mandatory prescribing whenever they've been raised. We've always structured the programme as treating a health condition, helping patients manage sexual arousal.
'And that's very much why I think it's been effective - because the individuals who are taking the medication want to reduce the risk.'
He added: 'There'd be a lot of resistance from doctors because you'd be asking them really to prescribe not to patients but to reduce risk for society. So they become, in fact, agents of social control, which is something that we've always resisted.'
Problematic sexual arousal can be reduced by chemical suppressants and prescribed medication.
But the review highlighted the treatment would not be relevant for some sex offenders such as rapists driven by power and control, rather than sexual preoccupation.
The Government has not yet confirmed which regions or prisons will be part of the pilot scheme.
The Prison Officers' Association represents some healthcare staff who work in jails, and union boss Mark Fairhurst said their members have 'not reported any difficulties when administering this medication' as part of the South West trial.
Downing Street also would not be drawn into saying whether it thought chemical castration of paedophiles was a punishment for offenders.
Chemical suppressants have been used in Germany and Denmark on a voluntary basis, and in Poland as mandatory for some offenders.
Meanwhile Kazakhstan is set to move away from the policy, after dozens of child sex offenders were injected in the country in recent years.
The former Soviet state will instead enforce life-means-life sentences for men who rape or violently sexually attack children.
The review in the UK said the medications are not widely used in prisons across England and Wales but are currently delivered in prisons through a national programme, jointly commissioned by the NHS and prison service, that provides 'psychologically informed' services for offenders with complex needs, and likely diagnosed with personality disorder.
It was first piloted in the UK at HMP Whatton, in Nottingham, in 2007, and was rolled out to six more prisons in 2016.
In 2022, the pilot scheme extended the treatment, called clinical management of sexual arousal, to five prisons in the South West of England.
Chemical suppressants include hormonal drugs, anti-androgens, which can be prescribed to reduce libido, and non-hormonal drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which can be used to reduce compulsive sexual thoughts.
Meanwhile the Justice Secretary accepted reforms to allow some criminals, including violent and sexual offenders, to be released at an earlier point in their sentence if they show good behaviour.
Terrorists or the most dangerous offenders serving extended sentences would not be eligible for any early release scheme.
The shake-up comes as ministers have introduced a series of emergency measures to free up jail space to 'buy time' before the sentencing reforms are believed to take effect next spring.
Ms Mahmood has said despite record prison building expansion, demand for prison places will outstrip supply by 9,500 in early 2028.
Latest figures show the prison population in England and Wales is 88,103, just 418 below the record of 88,521, which was reached on September 6 last year.