Magistrates could give longer sentences under new proposals

Magistrates successful England and Wales could beryllium fixed powers to manus down longer custodial sentences nether proposals to assistance trim the backlog successful crown courts and prisons.

The determination could let magistrates to effort much superior crimes, and treble the maximum punishments handed retired for an offence from six to 12 months, helping a strategy the authorities said is connected the “point of collapse”.

The Magistrates’ Association’s main enforcement Tom Franklin, called it a “sensible move” that could “speed up justice”.

The connection could besides trim the fig of prisoners connected remand - radical awaiting trial. In June, determination were a grounds 17,000 prisoners connected remand, a 5th of the situation population.

In effect to the proposals - first reported by the Daily Telegraph - a Ministry of Justice spokesperson told the BBC: “The caller authorities inherited prisons connected the constituent of collapse, which is wherefore the Lord Chancellor took swift enactment by introducing exigency measures.

“We volition proceed to see different semipermanent options to woody with the prisons situation successful a sustainable way.”

Mr Franklin said conversations considering this determination are predominant betwixt magistrates and authorities officials.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, that magistrates person already been trained to woody with “slightly much superior cases”, truthful if the proposals were approved, “the slightest superior cases presently being dealt with by the Crown Courts, could beryllium dealt with arsenic the [magistrate courts] astir superior cases”.

As good arsenic dealing with the “log jam” successful the crown courts, helium said it would mean that “justice is speeded up and that’s bully for victims, witnesses and defenders”.

But helium warned it would request to enactment unneurotic with much tribunal resources, including tribunal unit specified arsenic “legal advisors and probation officers”, the deficiency of whom could make “delays and cancellations that are precise frustrating".

This comes aft more than 2,000 prisoners were released early past week to woody with situation overcrowding.

Offenders who had served 40% of their condemnation were eligible, who would different person been released aft serving fractional their sentence.

Prisoners who were successful jailhouse for superior convulsive offences with sentences of 4 years oregon more, arsenic good arsenic enactment offenders, were not released.

One former inmate appeared backmost successful court aft allegedly sexually assaulting a pistillate connected the time of his aboriginal release.