Latest news with #overcrowding
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Nearly 8,200 patients treated on trolleys in hospitals in May
Nearly 8,200 patients, including 75 children, were admitted to hospital without a bed this May, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). The top 5 most overcrowded hospitals include: Advertisement University Hospital Limerick – 2,055 patients; University Hospital Galway – 919 patients; Cork University Hospital - 673 patients; St Vincent's University Hospital - 496 patients; Letterkenny University Hospital - 468 patients. INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: 'The number of people on trolleys is still much too high. We are still seeing near daily instances of over 400 people being treated on trolleys, chairs or other inappropriate bed spaces every day. 'We want to engage proactively with the HSE to ensure that our members are able to cope with the seasonal and predictable challenges that they are likely to encounter over the coming months. 'We are yet again seeing unacceptable levels of overcrowding in the Midwest and West, where there is little to no capacity release valves to help ease overcrowding. The delivery of fully-staffed, additional capacity must be a priority for the HSE in these areas. 'Persistent overcrowding does not just have an impact on patient outcomes, it also impacts nurse and midwife safety and wellbeing. We know that when hospitals are overcrowded assaults are more regular and staff burnout and intention to leave rises. "These are very real issues that need to be addressed by the Health Service Executive.'
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Conditions at Windsor-area jail are leading to reduced sentences
Overcrowding and lockdowns at the South West Detention Centre are resulting in inmates receiving more credit for time served, according to legal professionals in Windsor. CBC's Jennifer La Grassa investigated and spoke with lawyer Patricia Brown.
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Overcrowding, lockdowns inside this Windsor-area jail are so persistent, it's leading to reduced sentences
Overcrowding and frequent lockdowns due to short staffing: These are some of the conditions at the South West Detention Centre that led to a lighter sentence of a Windsor man charged with gun trafficking. In March, Lawrence Davis was sentenced to seven years in jail after he was found guilty on gun-related charges. Davis was charged in December 2021 after he got into an argument with a man in a vehicle at a parking lot near Tecumseh Road East and Forest Glade Drive. The heated argument turned into a gunfight — one man died, while Davis was shot in the shoulder and treated in hospital. Without being able to prove whether Davis acted out of self-defence, first degree murder and attempted murder charges were dismissed. But in the publicly available decision related to Davis's probation breaches and gun-related charges, the judge says he considered the conditions the man faced during his pre-sentence custody at the South West Detention Centre (SWDC). Those conditions included multiple lockdowns and sleeping three people to a two-person cell. Courts are able to take these factors into consideration under what is known as Duncan's Credit — the credit is not a defined number of days or months, but rather a mitigating factor. While it isn't anything new, some experts say its use points to persistent problems in Ontario's correctional system. Lawyer says 'harsh' conditions are common in area jail Patricia Brown, Davis's lawyer, told CBC News that she always tries to inform the court of the poor conditions people face in jails. And since COVID-19, she says she's been detailing these conditions more often. "I'm raising the concerns before justices so they can realize that the accused person, although they were not yet convicted or sentenced or found guilty ... [was] in harsh conditions," she said. In Davis's case, she said there were three people in his two-person cell for 523 of the 803 days he was at SWDC. According to the decision, Davis was assigned the floor mattress on "some of these days," but it notes that the arrangements on paper aren't always what actually take place. Davis also experienced a total of 109 lockdowns — on top of the usual lockdowns in place daily from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Seventy-seven of the lockdowns he experienced were due to "insufficient staffing," the decision notes. "When you think of yourself and your space is crowded, you're dealing with someone that may not be [cleaning] themself properly ... you're frustrated, they're frustrated, they're in a tight quarter ... all of those are factors that you consider can create a frustrating atmosphere that can be potentially dangerous," said Brown. "It can cause inmates to act out on each other, it makes it unsafe for even employees." She stresses that this sort of environment is especially difficult for people who have addiction or mental health issues. Jail operating over and above capacity Overcrowding and frequent lockdowns are common problems, says Katrina Digiacinto, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 135, which represents staff at the facility. Though the jail is meant to hold 315 people, Digiacinto says right now they have closer to 400 inmates. Crowding tends to elevate tensions, leading to more violence toward staff and other inmates, she said. But unless the employer approves it, Digiacinto says they can't just bring in more staff. "If the employer was more willing to increase the staff per shift, we would experience fewer lockdowns," she said. Right now, she says they could use an extra 20 staff members to handle a full day and night shift. Ontario's ministry of the solicitor general did not return a request for comment. But in previous stories about overcrowding at South West Detention Centre, the ministry said it recognizes the need for modernization in corrections and is investing $500 million for new staff and infrastructure projects. It has also said it is aware of "capacity pressures" at SWDC. 'Rethink' entire system: corrections reform expert Longstanding issues are driving these problems, says Howard Sapers, who led a two-year independent review on Ontario's correctional system in 2016. That review led to three reports that included 167 recommendations. Sapers says despite the commitment to make improvements, "things haven't gotten any better, in fact they've deteriorated since I did that work." When asked whether these conditions violate someone's charter rights, Sapers said "absolutely." But he said these issues are allowed to persist because even though there's "lots of policies, lots of laws" there is no "absolute prohibition." When a person is charged and a judge declines to release them on bail, "that person is then dropped off at the door of a local provincial jail, and the jail doesn't really have the ability to say, 'we're simply too crowded,'" Sapers said. While he says there's a lot that needs to change to fix these problems, he says it's not about building more jails or hiring more correctional officers. "It's rethinking how it is we use pretrial custody, what the purpose of a correctional centre should be," he said, adding these changes would need to involve everyone from police all the way to the mental healthcare system. For Brown, the lawyer in Windsor, she agrees. Speaking generally — it's not about bigger jails, but rather making changes to the bail system, she says.
ABC News
6 days ago
- ABC News
Female inmates 'disadvantaged' by overcrowding at Greenough Regional Prison
Women and Indigenous men are facing further disadvantage due to "systemic overcrowding" in Western Australia's prisons, the state watchdog says. Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan's report into Greenough Regional Prison, 400 kilometres north of Perth, revealed female inmates have been moved from "ideal" facilities into smaller units to make space for men. The prison houses both men and women and was put in the spotlight in 2018 after a riot and prison break, which saw 10 inmates escape and spend 10 days on the run. During the incident, male prisoners also broke into the women's wing armed with makeshift petrol bombs and power tools. Independent inspector Jan Shuard said at the time, understaffing, regular lockdowns and cancellation of scheduled work, education and recreation activities had created tension in the prison in the lead-up to the event. The government's response was to construct a dedicated, $12.3 million facility for female inmates, which boasted a high-tech fence to separate the unit from the men's. But less than two years later, the women were moved to facilities in Perth to make more space for men. The latest custodial report showed that women were moved back to Greenough prison six months ago, but not in the dedicated section. Mr Ryan said instead, the women were put in a "small, crowded and lacks fit for purpose infrastructure" section of the prison. Mr Ryan said removing women from the "ideal" purpose-designed facility to a smaller unit left them "disadvantaged". The state government did not answer questions about why women were not in the dedicated female unit. Organiser of the National Network of Incarcerated and formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Tabitha Lean, said placing men in the dedicated women's unit in Greenough showed the lack of priority for female inmates. "It's a total step backward in terms of dignity and safety and access to all their support," she said. Ms Lean said it reflected a deeper, structural issue across Australia where women were treated like they were "expendable". "There is a clear and consistent pattern of gender disposability," she said. "It's women who are displaced when budgets are tight. It's women's programs that are cut." As a result of the overcrowding at all the prisons in WA, Mr Ryan said Greenough's issues were exacerbated by the transfer of inmates from prisons in the Kimberley and Pilbara. He said about 20 per cent of men at the Geraldton jail were from WA's northern prisons and were largely represented by First Nations people. Mr Ryan said that while the prison staff were proactive in trying to accommodate cultural practices, the forced disconnect from country created significant challenges. "They say, 'Look, what I need is to be at home. 'I need family, I need to be on country.'" Roebourne Prison is in the state's Pilbara region and is another facility that continues to be under scrutiny for poor conditions, overcrowding and over-representation of First Nations people. Pilbara Indigenous group Ngarluma-Yinjibarndi Foundation (NYFL) chief executive Sean-Paul Stephens echoed Mr Ryan's concerns about the disconnect from family and country when an inmate was moved. "We're consistently seeing young men in particular getting caught up in the justice system being dislocated from family, being unable to participate in cultural practice like law ceremony," he said. Mr Stephens said this detracted from the main rehabilitative role of incarceration. He said structural reform was urgently needed, and early intervention should be a priority. "Rather than investing in bigger prisons, rather than investing in locking more people up, [the government should invest] in the social and cultural programs that support the social wellbeing of the community," he said. WA Prison Officers Union secretary Andy Smith said the Greenough inspection was a case study that showed the prison system was failing. He said overcrowding saw jails around the state put mattresses on cells floor to accommodate more inmates, and the "extreme" work conditions saw about 16 prison officers leave the industry each month. "Across the state, we're just over 800 officers short at the moment," Mr Smith said. He said chronically understaffed facilities could not run essential rehabilitation work and education programs, which could contribute to rates of reoffending. A state government spokesperson said 325 prison officers were trained in 2024, and the Department of Justice planned to recruit 1,200 prison officers over the next three years. They said increasing the capacity of regional WA prisons was also being considered. Shadow Minister for Corrective Services Adam Hort said the current system did not facilitate rehabilitation. "When you've got an overcrowded prison, often those rehabilitation programs are stifled or cancelled," he said. "This is not corrective services. It's just a holding pen where we're making prisoners worse than when they first came in."
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour will hand 40,000 criminals a get out of jail free card
Up to 43,000 criminals are set to avoid prison each year under Government plans to combat jail overcrowding, an analysis of official figures by The Telegraph reveals. The criminals, including burglars, shoplifters and knife offenders, will instead face community sentences under the plans to scrap most jail terms of under 12 months. The law change, recommended by an independent review headed by David Gauke, the former Tory justice secretary, will order courts to only jail offenders for less than a year in 'exceptional circumstances', including domestic abuse, stalking and breaching orders linked to violence against women and girls. The analysis also reveals that up to 1,500 killers, rapists and other serious sexual and violent offenders will be eligible for early release each year under the shake-up, which is designed to free up nearly 10,000 prison spaces. The criminals, whose offences include manslaughter, attempted murder, rape, wounding with intent to cause GBH and sexual assault, will be eligible for early release half way through their sentences of four or more years, rather than two thirds, if they behave well and engage with rehabilitation schemes. Up to a further 28,600 offenders on standard determinate sentences will be eligible for release as little as a third of the way through their sentences, depending on behaviour. The offences include violence against the person, sex offences, robbery, theft, drug possession, fraud and possession of weapons, for which the criminals would currently only be allowed out after serving 40 per cent of their sentence. If they fail to behave, they would face up to 50 per cent of their sentence in jail. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'Sir Keir Starmer's decision is a gift to hardened criminals who will now be free to cause carnage on our streets. 'This is certain to cause a crime wave and the complete breakdown of law and order. The only people benefiting from this Labour Government are criminals and illegal migrants. 'Instead of offering huge sentence discounts to killers and rapists, Starmer should free up space in our prisons by deporting the 10,800 foreign offenders clogging up our jails. But he won't, as he's wedded to broken human rights laws and previously campaigned to keep foreign criminals in the UK.' He made the comments as police chiefs have demanded ministers exempt 'high-risk' violent and sexual offenders from their early prison release scheme to protect the public from 'out of control' criminals. They have also warned there will be a surge in reoffending by freed prisoners unless Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, provides the extra cash for probation officers to supervise the thousands more criminals set to be released early. The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has written to Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, warning that letting criminals 'out of prison' earlier must not mean the offenders are 'out of control'. The analysis, based on the number of offenders jailed last year, showed that up to nearly 11,000 shoplifters could avoid jail, as well as more than 3,000 convicted of assaulting emergency workers and a further 3,000 imprisoned for common assault and battery. It could also include as many as 2,300 burglars of non-domestic dwellings and nearly 400 house burglars. The figures also suggest 2,300 convicted of knife crime and more than 1,000 sent down for actual bodily harm assaults could escape jail. Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett, who leads on criminal justice for the NPCC, said there must be adequate funds in the forthcoming spending review to invest in probation officers and technology, to ensure freed criminals were effectively supervised in the community to reduce reoffending. 'It is crucial for public safety that high-risk offenders, including those convicted of violent or sexual offences, and those who pose a threat to national security, are exempt from early prison release,' she said. 'Robust prison sentences for these crimes must remain in place as a strong deterrent and means of keeping the public safe. It is also crucial that victims of domestic abuse are protected, and that perpetrators understand that there will be harsh consequences for breaching orders.' Ms Mahmood told MPs she had secured an extra £700 million for the probation service in the spending review, as well as deploying 'tens of thousands' more electronic tags to place high-risk offenders under effective 'house arrest' with curfews at night and during the day alongside tighter exclusions, which they must not leave.
