Latest news with #ProbationService
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Electronic tags do NOT prevent criminals from re-offending, warns Met chief... as Labour lets thousands skip jail
Tagging criminals instead of sending them to prison will not stop re-offending, the head of the country's biggest police force has warned. Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, issued a stark warning yesterday about the Government's plans to let tens of thousands of offenders avoid jail. He said that fewer criminals serving prison time would 'generate a lot of work for police' and a 'proportion' of them would go on to commit another crime. Sir Mark also accused ministers of having done 'no analysis whatsoever' on the impact of letting criminals dodge jail sentences or be released early. Under Labour's overhaul of sentencing laws announced last week, some criminals – including violent and sexual offenders – will be released early for good behaviour. And courts will no longer impose jail terms of less than 12 months, apart from in 'exceptional circumstances', with more criminals serving sentences in the community instead. Alongside the changes, the Probation Service was given a funding boost to buy nearly 30,000 more electronic tags – enabling it to quadruple the number of criminals being monitored with the devices. But the Met Commissioner told BBC Radio 4's Today programme tagging criminals cannot be relied upon: 'Every time you put an offender into the community, a proportion of them will commit crime, a proportion of them will need chasing down by the police.' He went on: 'If probation are going to spend more money on trying to reform offenders, divert them, reduce their recidivism, that's fantastic. 'But a proportion of those who would've been in prison will be committing further offences because probation can't do a perfect job, it's impossible. 'That extra offending is work that police have to do to protect communities. That involves more arrests, more cases. So this will generate a lot of work for police.' Sir Mark's comments came after he and five other senior police officers – chief constables Serena Kennedy, Stephen Watson, Craig Guildford and John Robins, as well as chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC)Gavin Stephens – wrote a letter in The Times calling on the Government to provide 'serious investment' at this month's spending review. As well as increasing demand and new online threats from organised crime, they said the emergency release of prisoners to alleviate overcrowding and recommendations in the sentencing review would put more pressure on policing. The officers warned that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's flagship pledges on knife crime, violence against women and recruiting thousands more police officers would be unachievable without spending more. Their warning comes ahead of the Chancellor's spending review on June 11, which chiefs said was 'the most important moment in decades' for the backing of police by the Government. Police chiefs have also called for a radical overhaul of the structure of UK policing with fewer, larger forces amid financial shortages and difficulties dealing with updating technology. The current structure of 43 geographical forces was established in the 1960s and there have long been concerns that the model is not fit for purpose. As the NPCC published the police data strategy for 2025 to 2030 today, force bosses called for a redesign of the structure of policing in England and Wales. Mr Stephens said 'the system is not resilient' and argued for 'bigger, capable forces led by a stronger national centre'.
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Dubliner jailed after stashing €46k of cocaine and cannabis in gym bag
When interviewed, Daniel Buckley outlined his addiction issues and said he had a drugs debt of €10,000, which was to be reduced as he was holding the bag. A man found in possession of €46,000 of cocaine and cannabis has been jailed for two years and six months. Daniel Buckley (32) of Ventry Park, Cabra, Dublin 7 pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply at the same address. Yesterday, Buckley received a three-year sentence with the final six months suspended on strict conditions at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Garda Sean Halpin told Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, that gardai carried out a search on April 21, 2024. Buckley was living in a cabin at the back of property and gardai saw him throwing a gym bag over a wall. This bag was later retrieved, with the majority of the drugs found inside. Drugs. Stock image. News in 90 Seconds - May 28th Three packages of cannabis, valued at €16,279 and 429g of cocaine worth €30,079, were found. The total value of the drugs was €46,358. €1,710 cash was also seized during a search of the cabin. Buckley told gardai at the scene that he knew there were drugs in the bag, but he did not know their value. He said he was holding the bag and the cash as he had a drugs debt. When interviewed, Buckley outlined his addiction issues and said he had a drugs debt of €10,000, which was to be reduced as he was holding the bag. He told gardai he had been holding the drugs for two weeks and people would come and take portions from the bag. No other paraphernalia or trappings of wealth were found. Buckley has previous convictions including for theft and drugs offence. Mark Lynam SC, defending, told the court his client has longstanding addiction issues and attended residential treatment in 2018, but did not fully get a handle on his addiction at this point. Counsel said Buckley built up a drugs debt as a result of his own addiction issues. A number of letters were handed to the court, outlining Buckley's engagement with addiction services, his voluntary work and from his partner. Buckley also wrote a letter of apology to the court. Buckley has recently completed a trial period of employment and has an offer of permanent work, the court heard. Mr Lynam asked the court to structure a sentence to allow for his client's rehabilitation and re-integration into society. Judge Orla Crowe noted 'the calamitous effect that drugs have on society', adding that the 'wreckage and harm it causes' is seen by the court on a daily basis. She said Buckley was 'trusted sufficiently' to hold cash, and two types of drugs were found. The judge said the court had considered Buckley's personal circumstances, his guilty plea and efforts to address his addiction. Judge Crowe suspended the final six months of the three-year sentence for two years. She also directed Buckley to place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months post-release to assist with his continued rehabilitation from drugs and 'vocational re-integration into society'.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
Mother of murdered teen fears justice reforms
A mother whose teenage son was murdered by a convicted offender on probation says she fears proposed changes to the justice system. Conner Marshall, 18, of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, was beaten to death by David Braddon in March 2015 in a case of mistaken identity. But plans to deal with prison overcrowding would see more prisoners in Wales and England, including some serious offenders, eligible for early release after serving a third of their sentence. Mr Marshall's mother, Nadine Marshall, is concerned reforms announced by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, including increased use tagging and home detention, will put even more strain on the probation service "The problems are going to be magnified because the system isn't fit for purpose as it is," she said. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said the UK government inherited a criminal justice system "in crisis" but would include £700 million to fund "intensive supervision" of released prisoners by the Probation Service. Mrs Marshall responded: "I'm not confident in the slightest. "That money is just going to plug holes. "The staffing isn't there, the processes aren't there, the systems aren't there for probation to actively be able to deal with the workload they have." Violent criminals could be released early and chemical castration pilot expanded after review Bold spending needed to halt prison crisis - union More inmates released early to stop prisons running out of space Mr Marshall was killed at Trecco Bay caravan park in Porthcawl, Bridgend county, in a drink and drug-fuelled attack. At the time, Braddon, 26, of Caerphilly, was subject to two community orders following his conviction for drug offences and assaulting a police officer, but was classified as a low-risk offender. He was among 244 criminals on probation who were charged with murder in Wales and England between January 2020 and March 2024 - an average of one a week - according to statistics shared with BBC Wales-produced Newyddion S4C. At the inquest into Mr Marshall's death, the coroner heavily criticised the Probation Service, particularly the "woefully inadequate" management of Braddon's inexperienced new case worker. An MOJ spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with the victims of these horrific crimes and their families. "A 45% uplift in funding for the service will allow us to tag and monitor tens of thousands more offenders in the community. And we are on track to have recruited 2,300 probation officers by March next year." But an independent sentencing review has suggested wider use of probation services and the third sector in managing offenders after release from prison. It was carried out by the former Conservative Lord Chancellor David Gauke after prisons across Wales and England almost reached capacity last summer. It acknowledged the probation service is also currently "under great strain". Mahmood told the Commons on Thursday she accepted most of the proposals but stopped short of allowing the most serious offenders from being released early and said nobody jailed for terror offences would be eligible. Between July 2024 and March 2025, the UK government recruited 1,000 probation officers and has set a target of recruiting a further 1,300 this financial year 2025-26. National Association of Probation Officers broadly supports the government announcement but warned proper investment must accompany the burden on staff. "We have long been saying if the prison system is full and it is, so is probation," general secretary Ian Lawrence told Newyddion S4C. "Can the probation service cope with what will be a new cohort of early releases in Spring next year once this is all enacted? Not at the current rate of progress. "We currently have a system where staff are working massive hours under massive pressure just to cope with what I would call business as usual." Murdered teen's mum gets commissioner nomination Mother's pride at son's organ donation Murdered teen's story told to pupils
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
Mother of murdered teen fears justice reforms
A mother whose teenage son was murdered by a convicted offender on probation says she fears proposed changes to the justice system. Conner Marshall, 18, of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, was beaten to death by David Braddon in March 2015 in a case of mistaken identity. But plans to deal with prison overcrowding would see more prisoners in Wales and England, including some serious offenders, eligible for early release after serving a third of their sentence. Mr Marshall's mother, Nadine Marshall, is concerned reforms announced by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, including increased use tagging and home detention, will put even more strain on the probation service "The problems are going to be magnified because the system isn't fit for purpose as it is," she said. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said the UK government inherited a criminal justice system "in crisis" but would include £700 million to fund "intensive supervision" of released prisoners by the Probation Service. Mrs Marshall responded: "I'm not confident in the slightest. "That money is just going to plug holes. "The staffing isn't there, the processes aren't there, the systems aren't there for probation to actively be able to deal with the workload they have." Violent criminals could be released early and chemical castration pilot expanded after review Bold spending needed to halt prison crisis - union More inmates released early to stop prisons running out of space Mr Marshall was killed at Trecco Bay caravan park in Porthcawl, Bridgend county, in a drink and drug-fuelled attack. At the time, Braddon, 26, of Caerphilly, was subject to two community orders following his conviction for drug offences and assaulting a police officer, but was classified as a low-risk offender. He was among 244 criminals on probation who were charged with murder in Wales and England between January 2020 and March 2024 - an average of one a week - according to statistics shared with BBC Wales-produced Newyddion S4C. At the inquest into Mr Marshall's death, the coroner heavily criticised the Probation Service, particularly the "woefully inadequate" management of Braddon's inexperienced new case worker. An MOJ spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with the victims of these horrific crimes and their families. "A 45% uplift in funding for the service will allow us to tag and monitor tens of thousands more offenders in the community. And we are on track to have recruited 2,300 probation officers by March next year." But an independent sentencing review has suggested wider use of probation services and the third sector in managing offenders after release from prison. It was carried out by the former Conservative Lord Chancellor David Gauke after prisons across Wales and England almost reached capacity last summer. It acknowledged the probation service is also currently "under great strain". Mahmood told the Commons on Thursday she accepted most of the proposals but stopped short of allowing the most serious offenders from being released early and said nobody jailed for terror offences would be eligible. Between July 2024 and March 2025, the UK government recruited 1,000 probation officers and has set a target of recruiting a further 1,300 this financial year 2025-26. National Association of Probation Officers broadly supports the government announcement but warned proper investment must accompany the burden on staff. "We have long been saying if the prison system is full and it is, so is probation," general secretary Ian Lawrence told Newyddion S4C. "Can the probation service cope with what will be a new cohort of early releases in Spring next year once this is all enacted? Not at the current rate of progress. "We currently have a system where staff are working massive hours under massive pressure just to cope with what I would call business as usual." Murdered teen's mum gets commissioner nomination Mother's pride at son's organ donation Murdered teen's story told to pupils
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Britain considering chemical castration for sex offenders under prison reforms
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is considering mandating the use of chemical castration for sex offenders under an overhaul of the justice system aimed at freeing up more space in its overcrowded prisons. One of the first acts of the Labour government in July was to announce plans to release more prisoners early to tackle a crisis of overcrowding in jails which ministers said threatened a "total breakdown of law and order." The prison population in England and Wales then reached a record high in September, and earlier this year the government said police cells would be used temporarily to hold prisoners as an emergency stopgap measure to cope with overcrowding in prison. Announcing the findings of a review into how to tackle the crisis, justice minister Shabana Mahmood said it had recommended continuing a pilot of so-called "medication to manage problematic sexual arousal." "I am exploring whether mandating the approach is possible," she told lawmakers. Options include pharmaceuticals that suppress libido and those that reduce sexual thoughts, the review said. The Independent Sentencing Review said there was an overreliance on custody, and that more should be invested in the Probation Service, with greater electronic monitoring and a supervision system to reduce reoffending. The review also proposed a system where offenders can earn earlier release through good behaviour and compliance with prison rules, and said custodial sentences of less than a year should only be used in exceptional circumstances. The government said it would accept these recommendations but would not proceed with a recommended maximum sentences, meaning the worst offenders could spend longer in prison. David Gauke, the former Conservative justice minister who chaired the review, said the government could not simply build more prisons to end overcrowding, and more radical reform was needed. "To stabilise the prison system and end the dangerous cycle of emergency releases the government must take decisive action," Gauke said in a statement. "Taken as a package, these measures should ensure the government is never again in a position where it is forced to rely on the emergency release of prisoners," he added.
