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Prisoners sleep in toilet areas as congestion rises
Overcrowding in jails has led to some inmates living and sleeping in toilets, a report says.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:03 July 23, 2008
London: Overcrowding in jails has led to some inmates living and sleeping in toilets, a report says.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons found Doncaster jail held almost 200 more inmates than it had been intended for, the BBC reported.
Two-man cells had been turned into three-man cells by putting an extra bed in the toilet area.
Meanwhile, a separate report from the Commons justice committee says the government's sentencing policies are adding to overcrowding in prisons, the report said.
Doncaster jail, run by the private firm Serco, holds almost 1,000 male prisoners - 200 more than it can accommodate in uncrowded conditions.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, Anne Owers, said using the toilet area as accommodation was "unacceptable" and called for the practice to end.
In its report, the justice committee called ministerial pledges to build more cells a "risky" strategy that had failed to address deeper issues over crime.
Its chairman, Liberal Democrat MP Alan Beith, said: "Changes in sentencing policy and practice leading to longer sentences have been a significant contributor to the unexpected and unplanned increase in both prison and probation populations.
"Short custodial sentences are very unlikely to contribute to an offender's rehabilitation.
"We urge the government to address sentencing policy in a more considered and systematic way and to reconsider the merits of this trend."
The MPs criticised a "deeply unimpressive" government-commissioned review of sentencing by Lord Carter, which they said was based on "wholly inadequate" consultation.
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