The United Kingdom government has announced that offenders convicted of manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and historic child sex offences will be excluded from planned prison sentence reductions, meaning they will remain behind bars for longer.
The Prime Minister’s Office disclosed this in a statement on Monday, adding that the exemption would also cover offenders convicted of killing emergency workers in the line of duty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The announcement, published on the Home Office website, expands on earlier measures excluding prisoners convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from benefiting from the planned sentencing changes.
The government said murderers and offenders considered by courts to be the most dangerous, and who receive life or extended sentences, were already excluded from the reductions. Such offenders will remain in custody until they are considered by a Parole Board.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government had expanded the list of offenders who would not benefit from the sentencing changes.
“I know how strongly people feel about this issue. I understand the concern and anger because I share it. That’s why I took action during my first weeks as Prime Minister to block some of the very worst in society being released before they should.
“We moved quickly to block vile criminals who commit rape, sexually abuse children and groom vulnerable young people,” Burnham said.
“But I always said I wanted to do more. We will now not only be keeping offenders serving time for indecent assault locked up, but also those in prison for manslaughter and death by dangerous driving. This means that the awful criminals responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentence shortened,” he added.
Burnham, however, said the government had reached the limit of what it could do without placing further pressure on the prison system.
“The truth is I wanted to go even further. But I’ve pushed the system to the very limits of what’s possible without risking the prison system collapsing within months, putting the public at enormous risk.
“To protect victims, we will be introducing the toughest ever supervision measures for offenders, which effectively mean that someone’s sentence will not end when they leave prison.
“This includes tagging offenders and, for the very first time ever, putting restriction zones in place to stop offenders getting anywhere near their victims,” he said.
The government also announced plans to abolish Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences during the current Parliament.
It said the move would address cases involving offenders who have remained in prison for years under a sentencing regime that was abolished more than a decade ago.
According to the government, work on the reforms would begin immediately and would be undertaken on a cross-party basis.
As part of the reforms, the government said some offenders would face tougher supervision after their release, including electronic tagging and geographical restriction zones.
It said some sexual and violent offenders could be restricted to specific geographical areas, with some zones covering areas as small as a few miles.
The government added that victims would have a role in determining how the restriction zones were drawn.
It also said there would be a presumption that prison leavers would be electronically tagged, while some offenders could face additional restrictions, including bans from pubs and public events.
The government further announced plans to introduce powers early next year that would allow some foreign criminals to be deported immediately after sentencing.
It said the policy would prevent such offenders from returning to the UK, while those convicted of the most serious crimes would remain in prison for a substantial period before deportation.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the government had reviewed the proposed sentencing reforms and concluded that offenders responsible for killings and serious crimes against children should spend longer periods in custody.
“The Prime Minister and I have rightly looked again at these reforms and we are clear that people responsible for taking a life, or for appalling crimes against children, should be kept behind bars for longer,” Norris said.
“But protecting the public also means fixing the prison system for good. We will build the cells we need, put offenders under much tougher controls when they leave prison and end the historic injustice of IPP sentences,” he added.
The government said the measures formed part of broader efforts to tackle overcrowding in the prison system, noting that adult male prisons were operating at 98 per cent capacity.
It said more than 3,200 prison places had been created under the current government, with an additional 14,000 expected to be available by 2031.