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12,000 prisoners proved innocent in UK over 2002 - Eric Allison (The Guardian)
Almost 12,000 people were held on remand in prisons in England and
Wales last year for crimes for which they were not subsequently
convicted, according to a report issued today by the Prison Reform
Trust.
Recent government figures show that 11,742 people who were jailed awaiting trial in 2002 were either acquitted by the courts or had the proceedings against them terminated.
Most received little or no compensation despite being held for an average of two months in overcrowded local prisons.
In some of these prisons, including Brixton, remand prisoners are locked in shared cells for up to 22 hours a day. They have limited access to showers and are allowed 30 minutes' exercise a day, weather permitting. They eat and sleep in cramped cells, which also contain their toilet.
In total, more than 58,000 prisoners were remanded in custody awaiting trial in 2002. This is an increase of 5,000 on the 2001 level, and the figure is set to rise again following passage of the recent criminal justice bill.
The new legislation reverses the presumption in favour of bail in certain cases and puts the onus on defendants to prove they should not be remanded in custody. Opponents of the bill believe some defendants will find it virtually impossible to persuade a court to grant them bail.
The Home Office declined to comment on the figures, but yesterday Enver Solomon, of the Prison Reform Trust, told the Guardian: "It is unjust, and a shocking waste of public money, that we are locking up so many people who are acquitted when they finally stand trial."
Average time spent in custody awaiting trial in 2002 was 49 days for men and 37 days for women. Last month, the prisons minister, Paul Goggins, confirmed to the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes in a parliamentary answer that at least three people had spent three years on remand and one person had spent six years.
The report shows that, on average, 72 remand prisoners deliberately harm themselves each month, and last year 36 committed suicide in custody.
Curtis McLardie, a Manchester fireman recently acquitted of serious drug offences, told the Guardian: "Being wrongly accused of a crime in itself was a nightmare. However, when the judge said I was to be remanded in custody, when I had been on bail the best part of two years, and had met all conditions of that bail, was the lowest point."
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said yesterday: "Imprisoning nearly 12,000 innocent people, and ruining their lives as a result, is an injustice beyond belief."
by Eric Allison, prisons correspondent
The Guardian Monday November 24, 2003
Recent government figures show that 11,742 people who were jailed awaiting trial in 2002 were either acquitted by the courts or had the proceedings against them terminated.
Most received little or no compensation despite being held for an average of two months in overcrowded local prisons.
In some of these prisons, including Brixton, remand prisoners are locked in shared cells for up to 22 hours a day. They have limited access to showers and are allowed 30 minutes' exercise a day, weather permitting. They eat and sleep in cramped cells, which also contain their toilet.
In total, more than 58,000 prisoners were remanded in custody awaiting trial in 2002. This is an increase of 5,000 on the 2001 level, and the figure is set to rise again following passage of the recent criminal justice bill.
The new legislation reverses the presumption in favour of bail in certain cases and puts the onus on defendants to prove they should not be remanded in custody. Opponents of the bill believe some defendants will find it virtually impossible to persuade a court to grant them bail.
The Home Office declined to comment on the figures, but yesterday Enver Solomon, of the Prison Reform Trust, told the Guardian: "It is unjust, and a shocking waste of public money, that we are locking up so many people who are acquitted when they finally stand trial."
Average time spent in custody awaiting trial in 2002 was 49 days for men and 37 days for women. Last month, the prisons minister, Paul Goggins, confirmed to the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes in a parliamentary answer that at least three people had spent three years on remand and one person had spent six years.
The report shows that, on average, 72 remand prisoners deliberately harm themselves each month, and last year 36 committed suicide in custody.
Curtis McLardie, a Manchester fireman recently acquitted of serious drug offences, told the Guardian: "Being wrongly accused of a crime in itself was a nightmare. However, when the judge said I was to be remanded in custody, when I had been on bail the best part of two years, and had met all conditions of that bail, was the lowest point."
Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said yesterday: "Imprisoning nearly 12,000 innocent people, and ruining their lives as a result, is an injustice beyond belief."
by Eric Allison, prisons correspondent
The Guardian Monday November 24, 2003