Mandatory chemical castration under consideration for serious sex offenders

Shabana Mahmood, the lord chancellor, is considering mandatory chemical castration for the most serious sex offenders.

- Rajeev Syal

The Ministry of Justice is planning to expand a pilot of voluntary chemical castration to 20 regions as part of a package of "radical" measures to free thousands of prisoners and ease prison overcrowding in England and Wales.

As well as releasing and tagging convicted killers and rapists after they have served half of their sentence, Mahmood is considering the findings of an independent sentencing review that has called for the government to build an evidence base on drugs that "suppress libido" or reduce "sexual thoughts".

They are among 48 recommendations put forward by David Gauke, the chair of the review.

Mahmood told the Commons yesterday that existing studies on chemical suppression showed a 60% reduction in offending, and it would be for a subset of sex offenders where the combination of chemical suppressants and psychological interventions could "have a big and positive impact".

"For many years there's a pilot that has been trundling along and nobody has shown much interest in it, including any of my predecessors," she said.

"I'm not squeamish about taking these further measures.