MP James Wild: We must hand criminals harsher prison sentences

In his latest column, North West Norfolk MP James Wild calls on the Government to be harsher in its treatment of criminals…

“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”. That phrase should sum up how our criminal justice system works.

Certainly, a strong approach on crime is consistently shown to be supported by the public.

Little wonder when crimes - reported every week in these pages - strike at the core of our communities and the underlying principle of playing by the rules.

Yet last week in Parliament, MPs debated the Labour Government’s sentencing bill which will fundamentally shift the approach to crime and punishment.

It introduces a new presumption against prison sentences of 12 months or less except in extremely limited cases.

In effect, it will no longer be possible to sentence burglars, shoplifters, violent offenders or other criminals for less than a year - they will have to complete a community sentence instead.

What will the impact of this be? Well, in the last year it would have meant up to 3,000 offenders jailed for assaulting an emergency worker avoiding jail; 1,200 violent offenders convicted of grievous bodily harm avoiding jail; and 11,000 shoplifters avoiding jail.

Those figures are alarming for anyone who believes in the importance of punishment for criminal acts. Indeed, it brings to life the ‘get out of jail free’ card from Monopoly.

The simple fact is if a shoplifter is in prison then they cannot commit further offences. If they are subject to a community sentence they can.

Furthermore, the Bill reduces the amount of time those sentenced to prison will serve even for the most serious crimes.

Under a so-called ‘earned progression’, model offenders could serve only a third of their sentence for behaving in prison, not for being rehabilitated.

This would apply to burglars, rapists, paedophiles, and those convicted of domestic abuse-related offences such as stalking, and coercive and controlling behaviour. That is not justice for victims.

In contrast, the last Conservative government changed the law so the most serious offenders had to serve longer.

This approach of early release and no short prison sentences will place huge pressure on the probation service.

When I met them in Lynn recently, it was clear they were already facing a significant caseload and were operating at capacity.

Rehabilitation can only be effective with proper support and oversight, and the concern is the ability for the hardworking staff to manage far more offenders simply is not there.

The Government says it is taking this approach because there are not enough prison places.

It is certainly the case we did not add enough new places when we were in Government, but it is also important to recognise that a third of prisoners are either on remand awaiting a trial or foreign offenders.

So it is a political choice to respond not by dealing with those issues - and the court backlog which has gone up over the last year - or by procuring extra capacity in existing or modular buildings, but by letting prisoners out earlier or not sending them to jail.

These are permanent changes, not temporary ones, to manage the prison estate.

Where there was some consensus was over the need to treat driving offences more seriously. They cause devastation for families and yet sentences fail to reflect laws Parliament has passed and reoffending is a major issue.

Nearly 20% of offenders convicted of dangerous driving in 2024 had committed a similar offence previously.

This is an issue I have campaigned on and I will support efforts to toughen up penalties through this bill, including longer driving bans for offenders.

With its large majority, the Government’s bill is set to become law. However, there is still hope that as it is scrutinised more MPs will recognise this approach is fundamentally flawed and will undermine, not strengthen, public safety.