{UAH} UK PRISONS REACH 99 PERCENT CAPACITY

UK prisons reach 99 percent capacity

UK prisons reach 99 percent capacity, MoJ statistics reveal.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 7:23AM GMT

UK prisons are running at over 99 percent capacity with only 841 places left to take sentenced criminals.

Data from Britain’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) indicated that prisons in England and Wales are almost at breaking point with jail population hitting 84,987 in the last week.

According to the MoJ, full capacity for UK prisons stands at 85,828, which means the jails in the country are now 99.02 percent occupied.

Critics blame the British government for the overcrowded prisons in England and Wales after 13 prisons, with almost 4,500 places, have been shut down since the coalition took office in 2010.

Main Opposition Labour Party also criticized the British Prime Minister David Cameron for putting public safety at risk by closing the prisons, saying he should have “listened to those warning him there was a crisis coming.”

“The Government needs to explain where serious and violent criminals will go if there’s no space left in prisons,” said a spokes person for the Labour Party.

“The public deserve to know that this Government isn’t putting the safety of their local communities at risk because of their incompetence”, he added.

According to reports, four more prisons are scheduled to close by next spring with the loss of a further 1,400 places.

The crisis might put police stations and court cells on standby to take convicted offenders.

The British government announced it would be "bringing on stream" an extra 400 prison places on Monday.

A prison near Wrexham, Wales is also planned to be built by 2017, which is scheduled to accommodate more than 2000 inmates.

MOS/HSN/HE

 

 

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