Prison overcrowding crisis has been 30 years in the makingpublished at 12:38 British Summer Time 19 August

12:38 BST 19 August

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The prison overcrowding crisis has not been caused by the riots - it has been 30 years in the making. This may feel like ancient history but a series of political choices has meant this year’s crisis was coming.

Between 1993 and 2012, the prison population in England and Wales doubled to around 80,000 as Conservative and Labour governments introduced changes that led to more people being jailed. From around 1999, the average length of a sentence also grew.

About a third of all offenders leaving jail reoffend within a year - meaning many get imprisoned again - and that figure broadly doubles if someone is locked up for less than six months. So despite falling crime rates, the prison population has continued to grow.

All of this meant Boris Johnson’s government had to promise 20,000 new cells, external at a cost of £4bn - but that programme was massively behind schedule when the Tories lost power in July of this year.

Only 8,000 of the places will be ready by May 2025 - and at current rates of demand officials now worry they might not be enough anyway.

Cuts in funding for courts and judges, the Covid-19 pandemic and a loss of criminal lawyers because of poor pay have created exceptional backlogs in prosecutions.

This means a record 17,000 of those now in jail are simply being warehoused, waiting for a trial. If they need help getting over a criminal past, they can’t get it until they’re convicted.

And that’s why most experts say Sir Keir Starmer’s government must come up with a generational shift in what jails are for and how rehabilitation is delivered if a circular crisis is ever going to be solved.

Let's bring you up to date with what has been happening as people continue to appear in courts across England for their roles in the recent riots and disorder:

• Emergency measures - known as Operation Early Dawn - aimed at dealing with prison overcrowding have been activated in parts of England

• Under the plans, defendants waiting for court appearances in affected areas will be kept in police cells until prison space is available
• It is expected to be implemented in the following areas: North East and Yorkshire; Cumbria and Lancashire; Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and East and West Midlands
• The government says prosecutions being brought after rioting earlier this month have "exacerbated longstanding capacity issues in our prisons"
• You can see detailed coverage of that in our posts between 09:00 and 10:00 BST
• Meanwhile, a 32-year-old man has been sentenced to two years and two months for his part in the Sunderland riots – the judge said the man took part in “an orgy of violence"
• Finally, latest figures from the Crown Prosecution Service says 474 people have now been charged with offences following the recent disorder

Image source, Metropolitan Police

A 67-year-old man is jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to violent disorder and causing religiously aggravated distress.

David Notley, of Buckhurst Hill, Epping Forest, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court, after he shouted "you're not English any more" at a police officers during a demonstration on Whitehall.

The court heard that members and supporters of far-right organisations took part in the protest on 31 July, and that Notley made his way to the front of the crowd and confronted police in a "fighting pose", surging back and forth.

He helped push another demonstrator into a police officer which "precipitated a physical confrontation involving the police (and) demonstrators", the prosecutor Alex Agbamu said, and then remained at the front of the crowd.

Earlier, we wrote that David Notley pleaded guilty to racially aggravated distress. In light of new information from the prosecution, supplied by the PA news agency, we have corrected this to causing religiously aggravated distress.

Image source, PA Media

Later this evening a BBC Panorama programme reports from some of the towns and cities worst affected by the recent riots.

The programme asks what can be done to prevent such violence from happening again.

You can watch it at 20:00 BST on BBC One and on iPlayer.

As a reminder, the government has activated emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding in parts of northern England and the Midlands.

Callers have been sharing their thoughts on the operation over on BBC Radio 5 Live. Here’s what they said:

Will, who runs a prison charity in Lingfield, Surrey, says the prison system has been “broken for years”.

He believes that more space in prisons could be created by tackling the issue of reoffending, adding that prisons aren’t serving their primary function which is rehabilitation.

Mandy has been visiting her partner in prison over the past 22 years. She says he’s completed his sentence and she was hoping he’d be released in February, but “it never happened” because of a “backlog”.

“If there's a crisis in prisons, then release some of those prisoners that need releasing,” she says.

James, from Exeter, who has worked as a probations officer in Exeter, says prison officers “do the most difficult jobs in the most challenging of circumstances” but staff are “at a breaking point”.

He says there's "little recourse" to speak to professionals about the challenges they face.

A total of 474 people have been charged with offences following the recent public disorder, the Crown Prosecution Service says.

The agency, which is responsible for criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, posted the updated figure on X, external, formerly Twitter. The figure yesterday was 472.

Mark Denten
BBC Look North

Image source, Northumbria Police

A 32-year-old man is sentenced to two years and two months for his part in the Sunderland riots.

Dean Groenewald, of no fixed address, had previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Groenewald picked up a paving brick or stone and threw it towards the police lines during a riot on 2 August, which was captured in body-worn footage.

Groenewald has 30 previous convictions including for affray, criminal damage and common assault and was on licence for a previous offence at the time of the Sunderland disorder.

Passing the sentence, Judge Paul Sloan KC said Groenewald, who is unemployed, was at “the forefront of a mob in front of the police lines” and had his hood up.

He said Groenewald had participated in “an orgy of violence, destruction and disorder” that had brought shame on the city of Sunderland.

The BBC has been tracking the progress of the dozens of people appearing in court following the worst violent disorder that the UK has seen in more than a decade.

You can find out more about the individuals convicted and sentenced in our story here.

We brought you details earlier on the regions where an emergency prison overcrowding measure has been activated.

The government has now updated the list, adding the East and West Midlands.

Operation Early Dawn is now in place for:

• The North East and Yorkshire
• Cumbria and Lancashire
• Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire
• The East and West Midlands

Image source, PA Media

More than 300 people appeared in court last week linked to the recent unrest, according to the Ministry of Justice - and over 470 people have been charged, as per the Crown Prosecution Service.

Here's a look back at some of last week's key developments:

David Wilkinson, 46, was jailed for six years for violent disorder, racially/religiously aggravated criminal damage and attempted arson.

And John Honey, 25, of Park Grove, Hull, was sentenced to four years and eight months for violent disorder, racially aggravated criminal damage and three charges of burglary.

Last week also saw the first people in England charged with rioting following the unrest: a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and Kieran Usher, a 32-year-old from Sunderland – both charged in relation to disorder that took place in the north-eastern city on 2 August.

Brendan Hughes
Political reporter, BBC News NI

Image source, PA Media

The prime minister is to meet rank-and-file police officers involved in responding to recent street violence during a visit to Northern Ireland today.

Sir Keir Starmer will be briefed by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

He is also expected to have a number of private engagements with community services involved in supporting families and vulnerable people.

Dozens of PSNI officers were injured as they dealt with racially-motivated trouble on Belfast's streets in recent weeks, linked to anti-immigration protests.

• Read more on the PM's visit here

Image source, PA Media

A 43-year-old man has been charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting riot and other related offences, including cruelty to children.

He was arrested last Wednesday in connection with public disorder in Belfast earlier this month following anti-immigration protests. He is due to appear in court on 12 September.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland says a total of 39 people have now been arrested and 31 charged over the disorder.

Next up on BBC Radio 4's Today programme is vice president of the Prison Governors’ Association, Mark Icke.

He says he agrees with Tom Franklin's assessment that the justice system is lurching from crisis to crisis.

Icke says the overcrowding announcement today can only be a short-term measure, adding “this is a whole system issue right now” across the criminal justice system.

Elsewhere, chief executive of the Magistrates’ Association, Tom Franklin, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He says the measures implemented today mean there will be a delay in some who have been charged coming to court because the prison service cannot guarantee if they were remanded in custody there would be a place for them.

There’s “no surprise” the system has reached this point, he says, adding “the justice system is lurching from crisis to crisis and has been for years now”.

The civil disorder of the past few weeks has “brought into public consciousness the importance of a well-run, well-funded justice system”.

More now from the chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, Mark Fairhurst.

“The desire is to only have prisoners in police cells for a maximum of 24 hours,” he says, adding “the police now have a decision to make” about who they hold.

The most serious offenders will end up in court and will be found a jail cell, he insists.

He says the effect of the overcrowding measures may be “justice delayed”, adding that if prisoners are “clogging up police cells” the police may have to “delay some of their operations”.

“It’s been an extremely pressured situation for several months now because we are so full. And that’s down to the previous government,” he says, adding the conditions for prison officers are now “absolutely horrific”.

Planned measures to reduce overcrowding due next month, should create “a bit of breathing space” and “enable us hopefully to stabilise our prisons”, he says, but “we’ve got to get through these next few weeks”.

Let's return now to our headline story - the plan to ease prison overcrowding by placing some people waiting for court appearances in police cells, until prison space is available.

The chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, a trade union, has been speaking to the BBC and is confident that prison cells will be found for those who "need" them.

Mark Fairhurst says he accepts the numbers are “tight” – blaming the previous Conservative government for leaving a "complete mess" – but says that is why the overcrowding system is in place.

He describes the overcrowding measures introduced this morning as effectively "one in, one out".

Asked what will happen if a prison cell is not available for someone identified as requiring one, he says: “There will be. We will guarantee a prison cell.

"We will make sure that those people who need to be in prison will be in prison.”

Image source, PA Media

Numerous cases are on our radar today as more appear in court over the recent unrest in England and Northern Ireland.

This includes the sentencing of Tracy Pearson, 53, and Michelle Jibson, 45, at Manchester Crown Court following guilty pleas for violent disorder.

The court heard the pair had been “agitators” during disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester.

Also in Manchester, Thomas Ward, 35, will be sentenced after he exposed his genitals at police officers, and Graham Brookes, 42, will be sentenced after admitting to throwing a pint of cider towards police.

Appearing in Leeds Crown Court are three men facing different charges following disorder in West Yorkshire.

Among them is Kaden Smith,19, of Pollard Square, who has been charged with assaulting an emergency worker.

The long-term feels a long way offpublished at 09:04 British Summer Time 19 August

09:04 BST 19 August

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Government sources are at pains this morning to stress that Operation Early Dawn is an emergency measure, which will only operate in the short-term.

Yet as it stands there is no fixed end date for the scheme, which will be kept under constant review.

It seems likely that pressure on prison places will begin to ease in early September. That’s when a new policy the government announced in July just days after taking office will come into effect, with some prisoners released after serving only 40% of their sentence, down from 50% at present. That is the medium-term measure being pursued by the government to deal with what they describe as “a justice system in crisis”.

How about the long-term? The surprise appointment as prisons minister in July of Lord Timpson, a businessman and penal reform campaigner, was seen as heralding a new approach from the new government, under which fewer people would be sent to prison, with a greater emphasis on rehabilitation.

But at the moment as Timpson and Sir Keir Starmer grapple with an acute crisis, the long-term feels a long way off indeed.

Emergency measures have been activated this morning to ease prison overcrowding, known as Operation Early Dawn.

This is how it works:

• Defendants will only be summoned to a magistrates' court when a space in prison is ready for them, the government says
• This means court cases could be delayed, with people kept in police holding cells or released on bail while they await trial
• The Prisons Service, courts and police will assess which defendants can be transferred from police cells to courts to ensure there is a space for them if they are remanded in custody
• Ongoing trials in the Crown Court will not be directly impacted and prisoners being held for those hearings will be brought to court and taken back to prison as usual, the government says
• It also says anyone who "poses a risk to the public" will not be bailed and the police's ability to arrest criminals will not be affected
• Prisons in the North East and Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and East and West Midlands will be affected
• Operation Early Dawn will be kept under "constant review" and be activated and deactivated as needed, the government says
• The system was previously used in May under the last government

Since this post was first published, the government has updated the list of regions affected to include the East and West Midlands.

Emily Atkinson
Live page editor

Image source, PA Media

Emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding have been activated this morning, as more are due to appear in court today over recent rioting.

Across northern England defendants waiting for a court appearance will be kept in police cells until prison space is available.

The government says prosecutions being brought after rioting earlier this month have "exacerbated longstanding capacity issues in our prisons" - more on this here.

We'll be bringing you the latest reaction and analysis to the new measures, alongside rolling updates of some of the court appearances throughout the day.

Stay tuned.