- Government to open 500+ new prisons space
- Stocken Prison and HMP Cookham Wood to house detainees
- Courts minister: Rioters to face legal consequences
Hundreds of individuals have been detained for rioting in the last week, with many appearing in court and expecting to be placed on remand.
The administration has announced plans to open more than 500 more prisons to house rioters captured in the last week.
Heidi Alexander, the courts minister, announced that 567 extra slots will be available starting next week.
They will be housed in a new housing block at Stocken Prison in Rutland, as well as the recently converted HMP Cookham Wood, a former young offenders institution in Borstal, Kent, which was closed in March after being deemed “inhumane” by the prisons watchdog.
The government had already planned to offer more room at institutions to address the country’s jail overcrowding crisis. Still, it is now pushing them forward to deal with rioters arrested over the last week and anticipated to be kept on remand in prison.
Hundreds of people have been arrested since last Tuesday when riots erupted after incorrect information circulated online claiming the Southport stabbing suspect, who was born in Wales, was a Syrian asylum seeker who arrived by tiny boat last year.
Dozens of people have appeared in court accused of a variety of offences, including violent disturbance, racially aggravated harassment, and using threatening language online to incite racial hatred.
Ms Alexander stated: “We have additional prison places that are available in the short term.
Because the persons who perpetrate this violent disorder must face the repercussions of their acts.
The prison system will remain overcrowded, and if the riots continue, those cells may fill up rapidly.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood stated last month that approximately 5,000 prisoners would be released early to relieve pressure on the system, with the first being released in September.
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The government has established additional courts this week to cope with the large number of rioters detained, with 70 more prosecutors and 60 remand courts open over the weekend.
However, proposals that courts may work overnight, as happened during the 2011 riots, are being challenged, with magistrates and criminal barristers claiming that the criminal justice system is currently at “maximum capacity”.
Ministers have warned that individuals who riot will face the “full force of the law”.
Ms Mahmood posted on social media on Tuesday: “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re protesting; if you show up in a mask, with a weapon, intent on causing disorder, you will face the full force of the law.”
To those who work with police and community organizations with pride and civic responsibility, you are the best of us.
