Magistrates urged to stop jailing women

Buckley Hall Prison

Magistrates in Greater Manchester are twice as likely to send a woman to prison as courts in other parts of England and Wales, figures reveal today (9 July).

The Howard League for Penal Reform has released data which shows how sentencing rates for women vary from county to county.

Courts in Greater Manchester imposed custodial sentences in 1.4 per cent of the cases they heard in 2011 – twice as often as benches in criminal justice areas such as Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Northumbria and Wiltshire. 

The figures are to be discussed today (9 July) at the annual general meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on women in the penal system. The group was set up in 2009 under the chairmanship of Baroness Corston and with administrative support from the Howard League.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “We are concerned that it remains the case that a woman convicted of a non-violent offence is more likely to go to prison than a man.

“Women who find themselves in court often need a lot of support. They are often victims of crimes themselves such as domestic abuse or pimping. Sending these women to prison for a few weeks is not the answer to the complex issues in their lives.

“We are concerned that legislation currently going through parliament may make the situation for women worse. The Offender Rehabilitation Bill extends short prison sentences with a year of supervision in the community but it is unclear how specialist services for women will survive as the government seeks to privatise probation using large regional contracts that will squeeze out small local providers.”

The maximum sentence that a magistrates’ court can impose is a six-month prison term, or up to 12 months in total for more than one offence. 

Proportion of female defendants dealt with by magistrates’ courts in Greater Manchester who received immediate custodial sentences: 

2001: 2.3%
2006: 1.7%
2011: 1.4%