Revolt of the judges: the day they turned on John Reid

The day the judges shamed John Reid
13 April 2012

The justice system was in turmoil last night as judges staged an unprecedented revolt over the full prisons scandal.

John Reid was facing the worst crisis of his career as a string of criminals, including another dangerous paedophile, walked free from court.

Read more ...

• 'We're on the brink of a prisons crisis' - pressure on Reid increases

• More will be spared prison sentences, admits Falconer

• Home Office attempts to gain control overshadowed by prisons crisis

The Home Secretary is under threat from a growing rebellion by judges furious at being told to jail only the most dangerous offenders.

Yesterday, incensed at the threat to their independence, many judges pointedly explained they were setting criminals free only because of political intervention.

Others resisted and were equally condemnatory of Mr Reid's attempt to influence them, with one Crown Court justice defiantly vowing to jail whomever he thought fit, regardless of the state of the prisons.

"I am well aware that there is overcrowding in the prison and detention centres," said Judge Richard Bray at Northampton Crown Court. "That is not going to prevent me from passing proper sentences in each case.

"The reason our prisons are full to overcrowding, and have been for years, is because judges can no longer pass deterrent sentences."

In yet another blow to Mr Reid, his youth justice chief Rod Morgan resigned last night over the overcrowding crisis.

Mr Reid attempted to distance himself from the furore yesterday, sending out Cabinet colleagues and a junior minister to face the music.

He emerged only at 6pm, giving a recorded interview to the BBC in which he insisted he had not changed the sentencing guidelines, but had only reminded the courts that only the most violent, persistent or dangerous offenders should be imprisoned.

But, amid accusations of "anarchy", the political damage had already been done.

The crisis forced Tony Blair to break off from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to insist that the Government was not telling judges to avoid jailing offenders.

"Let me make this absolutely clear - if any judge feels that a person is a threat or a danger to the public, and feels that they should be put in custody, then they should put them in custody," the Prime Minister said.

The fiasco has infuriated Labour MPs, who fear the party's record on law and order is being destroyed.

It looks set to put paid to any hopes Mr Reid harbours of mounting a successful challenge to Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership when Mr Blair leaves office.

Mr Reid's order that only the worst criminals should be sent down because there is no room in prison was made on Wednesday.

But it was not until yesterday that its full impact became clear, as Friday is the day when most criminals are sentenced.

Most damagingly, paedophile Keith Morris, facing a 14-year sentence for serious sex offences against a teenager, was released on bail, despite concerns that he has been hanging around a school.

Morris has a string of previous convictions and has been jailed in the past, admitting to police he has "a problem with children".

At Exeter Crown Court yesterday he pleaded guilty to three offences of causing a person under 16 to engage in sexual activity without consent and one of sexual activity with a child under 16.

Judge Graham Cottle imposed a curfew on Morris, 46, while a pre-sentence report is prepared.

He said: "Because of the rather unusual circumstances in operation at the moment I am going to release you on bail but to meet the concerns expressed by the police about the school I am going to curfew you from 8am to 5pm."

Morris was the second paedophile to be returned to the streets in only 24 hours.

On Thursday, Judge John Rogers suspended a six-month sentence on Derek Williams for downloading child pornography because of the Home Office's request to consider guidelines which offer an alternative to custody in all bar the worst cases. Williams himself admitted he had been "lucky".

Criminals were also quick to realise that now was a good time to try their luck. Serial shoplifter Kevin Morrow told police who arrested him that he would be let off because "the prisons are full" - and sure enough escaped with a £50 fine from magistrates.

Yet, despite criminals who would normally have been locked up going free, the prison population remained at 80,000, with more than 270 inmates in police cells. The reduction in the overall jail population between Thursday and Friday was only five.

On BBC Radio Four's Today programme, the Lord Chancellor admitted more cases will follow of criminals being freed because the jails are full.

The programme team had asked for Mr Reid, but was sent Lord Falconer instead. He said: "The guidelines remain the basis upon which the judges sentence. If those guidelines give them a choice - custodial or non-custodial - then inevitably, the fact that the prisons are near capacity could have an effect."

In Newcastle, the courts ran out of bail hostels in which to place recently released offenders who need supervision.

Judge David Hodson, struggling to find a place for a criminal who had failed to register for the sex offenders' register for the sixth time, said the situation was "hopeless". It could lead to criminals being freed from prison straight back into the community.

With the Home Office struggling to stay on top of events, Professor Rod Morgan delivered his own savage blow.

With devastating timing, he announced he was quitting as head of the Youth Justice Board, the body responsible for the detention of young offenders.

Professor Morgan said Government targets for bringing criminals to justice were "swamping" the youth courts and prisons.

He added: "We have tonight lots of people in police cells because there is no space for them in custody and that's true for children and young people also."

The Conservatives said it was an "outrage" that people guilty of serious offences should escape custody.

Tory leader David Cameron described Labour's prisons policy as a "road crash". He added that the resignation of Mr Morgan was "another example of failure of policy, planning and political will at the Home Office."

Shadow home secretary David Davis said of the resignation: "Apart from reinforcing the existing chaos in the Home Office this is a demonstration of the lack of the Government's own credibility."

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