Date: 30th December 2002
Released by: ANDREW TURNER

Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner has hit out at the Lord Chief Justice’s guidance that burglars should not normally face jail and said that Parliament, not judges, should retain the last word on sentencing guidelines for criminals. He accused Ministers, high-placed lawyers and the judiciary of being out of touch with people’s wishes in their treatment of burglars and running away from their responsibility to explain their policies to the electorate.

The MP’s comments follow reports that the Lord Chief Justice had urged the courts to give probation and community service sentences to thousands of burglars who would otherwise be jailed. Even a first or second time burglar who steals electric goods or personal items, causing damage and mess to the house, and trauma to the victim would get a community penalty rather than nine to 18 months in jail.

Mr Turner said,
“This announcement shows how out of touch the senior judiciary can be with public opinion. The Lord Chief Justice talks about the theft of high-value goods – but for people I know who have been burgled it is the loss of possessions of great sentimental value, and the fact that ones home has been violated, that matters.

“This announcement was sneaked out the day Parliament rose for the Christmas recess, and Ministers ran away from giving interviews on the subject. That smacks of cowardice by judges and ministers alike – they knew what they were planning was unpopular and wrong, and like guilty children they hid from the consequences.

“This is not the first time this has happened – judges are allowing their office to be abused by Ministers to downgrade the penalties Parliament allows for crimes. There is a Criminal Justice Bill before Parliament at the moment, and I shall examine carefully whether measures can be included to prevent judges defeating the will of Parliament.”

Notes:

The Times (20th December, 2002) reported:

In an attempt to reduce the record prison population, the Lord Chief Justice yesterday told judges and magistrates that burglars should not be sent to prison.

Lord Woolf urged the courts to give probation and community service sentences to thousands of burglars who would otherwise be jailed.Burglars facing a sentence of up to 18 months should not go to prison but be given a non-custodial sentence supervised by the probation service, he said. Even when a prison sentence was imposed, Lord Woolf said it should be “no longer than necessary”.

The new guidelines were the Lord Chief Justice’s latest intervention intended to ease 20 per cent overcrowding in the 137 jails in England and Wales. Lord Woolf, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor, and the Attorney-General have all called this year for less use of custody as the prison population has soared. Yesterday the number of prisoners had fallen to 71,833 but the Prison Service fears it will rise again in January.

Lord Woolf said that the courts should initially impose a community sentence with conditions on criminals convicted of household burglary. He admitted that domestic burglary must always be regarded as a very serious offence but said that some burglars were entitled to “more lenient treatment”.

The guidelines, which come into effect immediately, were issued without publicity at the Appeal Court in London the day before the courts rise for Christmas and on the day that Parliament went into recess. Lord Woolf made no effort to announce in advance that he was issuing controversial new guidance. Hilary Benn, the Prisons Minister, was told that the Lord Chief Justice would be issuing guidance on sentencing for domestic burglary but not the details. Last night no Home Office Minister was available to comment on the guidelines.

A first time burglar who enters a house causing no damage and stealing nothing will now receive a community penalty.

A first or second time burglar who steals electric goods or personal items, causing damage to the house, trauma to the victim and mess in the house would get a community penalty rather than nine to 18 months in jail.

A first time burglar who breaks into a house and steals goods of high value and does so when the victim is at home should receive a community punishment if the court plans an 18-month sentence.

But a second time offender carrying out such a burglary would receive a minimum two years in jail.

The Lord Chief Justice said the guidelines, issued when he and two fellow judges cut the sentences of two burglars at the Appeal Court, were an attempt to reverse the increasing use of jail for offenders convicted of burgling houses.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “We welcome this start to unload our overcrowded prisons.”