ID :
204363
Tue, 08/30/2011 - 12:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/204363
The shortlink copeid
Courts' Harsh Sentences against Protesters Spark Rift in Britain
TEHRAN (FNA)- Unduly harsh sentences handed out by British judges and magistrates to the young people involved in the recent unrests have created rift between magistrates and prisons head.
According to a report by daily mail, prison chiefs and magistrates clashed over claims that the courts are in a 'feeding frenzy' to send detainees to jail.
The result is that defendants are being wrongly imprisoned, according to the leader of the Prison Governors' Association, Eoin McLennan-Murray.
In reply, magistrates said his attack was misdirected, unreasonable and unfounded - and pointed out that a rush of serious offenders had come before the courts.
The spat follows unease among critics over some sentences given to those involved in this month's unrests.
Jail managers have been among those complaining that prisons are filling too quickly.
Mr. McLennan-Murray fuelled the row by telling Radio 4's Today programme that magistrates had set up a day-and-night conveyor belt to send defendants to prison.
"What they have been doing is reflecting the anger and emotion that surrounded it and therefore using custody," he said.
"This kind of speedy across-the-board justice probably means a number of people are dealt with unfairly."
In the aftermath of the unrests, courts were organized to run overnight and British Prime Minister David Cameron joined politicians praising judges and magistrates for taking a tough line.
Cases that proved controversial included those of two men jailed for four years each by a judge at Chester Crown Court for trying to incite a unrest on social media.
An analysis of sentences by the British Ministry of Justice has showed that seven out of ten of those arrested were remanded in custody before their trials, seven times more than the 10% of defendants in magistrates' courts in August last year.
Nearly half of those whose cases were completed were given prison sentences, four times more than those jailed by magistrates in the same period last year.
At the end of last week, according to Ministry of Justice figures, 841 individuals charged with offences during the unrests of August 6-9 had been remanded in custody. A total of 63 had been jailed after their cases had been heard.
In all 1,474 suspects had been before the courts, nearly two thirds of them in London. The prison population has risen by 1,300 since the start of August, reaching 86,821 last week. There remain 1,517 spare places in the prison system.
According to a report by daily mail, prison chiefs and magistrates clashed over claims that the courts are in a 'feeding frenzy' to send detainees to jail.
The result is that defendants are being wrongly imprisoned, according to the leader of the Prison Governors' Association, Eoin McLennan-Murray.
In reply, magistrates said his attack was misdirected, unreasonable and unfounded - and pointed out that a rush of serious offenders had come before the courts.
The spat follows unease among critics over some sentences given to those involved in this month's unrests.
Jail managers have been among those complaining that prisons are filling too quickly.
Mr. McLennan-Murray fuelled the row by telling Radio 4's Today programme that magistrates had set up a day-and-night conveyor belt to send defendants to prison.
"What they have been doing is reflecting the anger and emotion that surrounded it and therefore using custody," he said.
"This kind of speedy across-the-board justice probably means a number of people are dealt with unfairly."
In the aftermath of the unrests, courts were organized to run overnight and British Prime Minister David Cameron joined politicians praising judges and magistrates for taking a tough line.
Cases that proved controversial included those of two men jailed for four years each by a judge at Chester Crown Court for trying to incite a unrest on social media.
An analysis of sentences by the British Ministry of Justice has showed that seven out of ten of those arrested were remanded in custody before their trials, seven times more than the 10% of defendants in magistrates' courts in August last year.
Nearly half of those whose cases were completed were given prison sentences, four times more than those jailed by magistrates in the same period last year.
At the end of last week, according to Ministry of Justice figures, 841 individuals charged with offences during the unrests of August 6-9 had been remanded in custody. A total of 63 had been jailed after their cases had been heard.
In all 1,474 suspects had been before the courts, nearly two thirds of them in London. The prison population has risen by 1,300 since the start of August, reaching 86,821 last week. There remain 1,517 spare places in the prison system.
