Defendants convicted of some of the most heinous offences, including rape and burglary, are expected to endure delays in entering prison beginning next week due to overcrowding.
Crown Court sentencing sessions will be postponed in order to reduce jail populations, leaving everyone on bail either free in the community or in cells in magistrates’ courts.
According to data obtained by The Independent last week, prison overcrowding is at an all-time high.
Most prisons are extremely overcrowded, with some holding 70% more detainees than they should, including Wandsworth, where terror suspect Daniel Khalife is accused of fleeing.
Lord Edis, the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, has asked judges to postpone sentencing beginning Monday, according to The Times.
In addition, justice ministers are said to have proposed that some prisoners be released early.
Last week, the chief of prison governors, former home secretary Jack Straw, and former Tory prisons minister Rory Stewart all cautioned that early release may be necessary to address the situation.
Nearly two-thirds of England’s jails are officially overcrowded, with the number of available seats falling from 768 last week to 654 this week.
A prison association has vowed to sue the Ministry of Justice if governors are ordered to find extra space in already overcrowded jails.
Since 2020, the UK’s jail population has been continuously increasing, and as of this Friday, it was at 88,016, compared to a total capacity of approximately 88,670.
According to the government, these numbers will only deteriorate, with the jail population anticipated to rise to between 93,100 and 106,300 by 2027.