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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Courts told to 'avoid unnecessary jail sentences'
Ananova
Tuesday 05 Mar 2002 The Lord Chief Justice has urged judges and magistrates to stop imposing unnecessary jail sentences because of the "corrosive effects" of prison overcrowding on the criminal justice system. He says the message should not deter courts from jailing those guilty of violence, intimidation or other grave crimes, particularly when committed against vulnerable people. Lord Woolf has issued the statement while giving the court's decision in the case of a former building society cashier jailed for 12 months for stealing £11,120 from customers' accounts. The judges reduced the sentence passed on 26-year-old Mark Kefford, of Southampton, last November to four months, allowing his immediate release. "We trust all courts will heed the message which the court is giving today. That message is: imprisonment only when necessary and for no longer than necessary," said Lord Woolf in the Court of Appeal. Lord Woolf says the latest figures show a prison population of 69,892 - more than 2,000 higher than forecast and worrying close to the maximum over-crowded capacity of 70,834. This is a matter of grave concern for the Prison Service because it affects its ability to rehabilitate inmates and reduce reoffending, and for the criminal justice system as a whole. The use of police cells to relieve overcrowding is "wholly unsatisfactory", he says. Apart from being extremely expensive, it prevents police from tackling crime. The present situation had arisen despite a significant prison building programme, with £465 million spent over the past three years and a £240 million budget for next year. "It is to be hoped that the planned programme of prison building in the future will alleviate the situation," said the judge. "However, any relief will be short lived if the prison population continues to grow. In addition to the prison building expenditure, there is the cost of a prison place which is £36,651 per annum."
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