Record expansion pledged for jails

THREE new prisons will be built starting this year, as part of a “record prison expansion”, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said, as the Government grapples with near-full jails.

- PRESS ASSOCIATION REPORTERS

Ms Mahmood also announced a shake-up of prison recall measures which means prisoners serving between one and four years’ jail time can be returned to prison only for “a fixed 28-day period”.

Offenders are recalled to prison if they commit another offence when they are released early but remain on licence.

A standard recall currently results in offenders being taken back to prison for the remainder of their sentence, but this can be for shorter fixed-terms in some circumstances.