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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Prisons chief calls on judges to 'think twice before jailing women'
Ananova
Monday 26 Nov 2001 The director general of the Prison Service has begged judges to think hard before sending women to prison. Martin Narey has urged the judiciary to consider alternatives to jail. The number of women in prison in England and Wales has reached an all- time high of 4,045. His plea coincides with an expected announcement to MPs that Rochdale's 350-place Buckley Hall is to become the third men's jail within a year to be converted to house women. Mr Narey said: "I hope that sentencers look very carefully before using custodial sentences for women. "We do not overcrowd women to the same extent - it is not decent to do so, so I need to find fresh accommodation if the population accelerates." The number of female prisoners has reportedly risen by 7% in the three months to the end of September, the equivalent of an annual 28% increase. "No-one could have predicted that ... and no-one could have coped," said Mr Narey. Attempting to explain the causes of the rise, Mr Narey told BBC Breakfast: "I do not think anybody quite knows. I think everybody expected the population to be many hundreds lower at this time of year but the number of women has risen by 700 a year." The 4,045 women in prison, from a total jail population of 68,357, compares with fewer than 1,000 female inmates in 1970.
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