A new report has revealed that judges have been advised to delay the sentencing of criminals, such as rapists and burglars due to the fact that British prisons are under huge strain due to overcrowding.
Earlier in the year, judges were told that they should consider suspended sentences for crimes that would result in shorter prison terms, due to the fact that the prison population has ballooned to over 88,000. Prison overcrowding has been caused by a number of different factors, namely the right wing government imposing increased prison terms for many crimes, and the fact that many other crimes now carry custodial sentences.
To combat the overcrowding, the government is set to build 20,000 new prisons, which is an unprecedented amount, not seen since the Victorian era.