David Lammy has been urged to end the “scandal” of people imprisoned for their own protection while they await trial – just days after Britain’s overcrowded jails were blamed for prisoners being wrongfully released.
Sir Keir Starmer hit out at the strain on the system, which he said had been caused by the last Tory government, as he denounced the wrongful releases as “intolerable”.
Now more than 40 leading experts and organisations have written to the justice secretary calling on him to use the government’s Sentencing Bill to remove the courts’ power to remand defendants in custody for their own protection, or their welfare in the case of children.
They warn the law comes from a “mistaken belief that prisons are suitable places for people at risk of harm”.
The “misguided” power is available even when the defendant is not facing a criminal charge that could result in a custodial sentence, they highlight.
“Removing this power would be a win-win outcome for the government, freeing up expensive prison spaces and ensuring vulnerable people have access to the right tools to stabilise their lives.”
A report published by the chief medical officer for England last week highlighted that children and young people “can be placed in the secure estate on youth justice grounds or held for their own protection or for the safety of others on welfare grounds”.
It also warns “people can be remanded [detained] in prison for their ‘own protection’ solely on mental health grounds”.
Cases include an 18-year-old woman who threatened to throw herself off a motorway bridge or the roof of a hospital and was jailed for her own safety to allow for a bed on a mental health ward to become available in 2019.
But campaign group Justice said the government had refused calls to publish data on how many people are remanded in prison for their own protection or welfare under the Bail Act 1976, which contains the provisions.
The letter to Mr Lammy has been signed by the group’s chief executive Fiona Rutherford, Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti, who was the former director of Liberty, deputy mayor of Greater Manchester Kate Green, the former Tory MP who chaired the Commons justice committee Sir Bob Neill, The Howard League, Mind, the Centre for Women’s Justice and dozens more.
Baroness Chakrabarti told The Independent: “With bursting prisons in crisis, remand for the ‘protection’ or ‘welfare’ of vulnerable people and children is a double scandal. It is surely the worst example of treating the justice system as a dumping ground for failures elsewhere.”
Their letter warns that “prisons are not places of care and are fundamentally ill-equipped to address the social issues, such as homelessness or addiction, that often underpin this use of remand”.
“In reality,” it adds, “custodial remand worsens these vulnerabilities rather than solving them. This is especially true given the current prison capacity crisis and the limited support available to people in prison, particularly those held on remand. As the justice committee has rightly observed, prisons should not be regarded as a solution to failings of care and protection in the community.”
The letter also warns the practice disproportionately affects women and girls.
They say they welcome the government’s recognition, through the proposed Mental Health Bill, that custody is inappropriate where the sole concern is the defendant’s mental health.
But they add: “However, the government now has an opportunity to go further. The justice committee has repeatedly recommended that the provision for remanding people into custody for their own protection be removed in all situations.
“As highlighted by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, ‘it is hard to think who could or should be remanded to custody for their own protection’. The Sentencing Bill provides a crucial moment to improve outcomes for some of society’s most vulnerable – many of whom would otherwise spend no time in custody – by ensuring they receive the support they need in the community.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said:”We are changing the law to end the use of prison cells for people facing acute mental crisis as a so-called ‘place of safety’ and ending the use of remand for own protection where the court’s sole concern is a defendant’s mental health. This will ensure they get the urgent specialist help they need instead.”Judges will retain the power to remand people for their own protection in other circumstances but only where it is deemed absolutely necessary.”
