Stop the jailing of people at risk of harm, Lammy told

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.

- KATE DEVLIN

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.”