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Short jail terms fail to prevent reoffending, says former England and Wales magistrate

Criminals in England and Wales are being jailed for short terms that fail to prevent reoffending because of a lack of awareness and availability of community-based sentencing, a leading former magistrate has said.

Rather than jailing or fining someone, magistrates have the alternative of imposing a Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CSTR), which can be for mental health problems, or alcohol or drug dependency.

However, short custodial terms are being handed out “by default”, according to John Bache, former national chair of the Magistrates Association. They fail to achieve the objectives of sentencing and impact offender’s families, he added, even driving children to follow in their footsteps in some cases.

“I don’t see that short jail terms actually achieve a great deal,” he said. “The bulk of these people, who commit multiple crimes, they’ve got an underlying problem, which is mental health or alcohol or drugs or a combination of any two or three of those.

“The treatment for that is not to shove them in prison, because if they haven’t got a drug problem when they go into prison they’re likely to have one when they come out. The solution is to attempt to treat alcoholism or their drug requirements.”

Describing the justice system as “grossly underfunded” – the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) lost more than a quarter of its budget in a decade – Bache said the government needed to commit cash to ensure universal availability of CSTRs.

“The problem is those courses [CSTRs] aren’t always available and it is a huge postcode lottery. So you might be in one area of London, where the course is readily available but you go to a shire county and they just aren’t available.”

He added: “The crazy thing is that it would actually be cheaper to treat these people in the community rather than send them to custody.

“It is cheaper financially in the short term and it also be cheaper in the long term. You’re not going to get 100% success but hopefully it’s going to stop some of them coming back into the justice system into the revolving door of prisons.”

Two-thirds of people sentenced to a prison term of six months or less go on to commit a further crime within a year of being released. The reoffending rate is much lower for people handed non-custodial sentences.

Bache said the problem was not just funding but that CSTRs are not always incorporated into probation service pre-sentence reports – sometimes because they are not available – and some magistrates are unaware or unconvinced of their benefits.

He called for more emphasis during magistrates’ training on prevention of reoffending.

While the Criminal Justice Act 2003 sets out five purposes of sentencing, Bache said too often the focus was on just one – punishment of offenders – reflecting “the age-old English obsession with punishment”.

Short jail terms offer no opportunity for rehabilitation, he said, while for an offender’s children “their whole life is turned upside down through no fault of their own”. “Should we be surprised if their behaviour becomes unacceptable and if they themselves begin to demonstrate criminal tendencies?”

A MoJ spokesperson said: “While sentencing is a matter for independent judges, we are committed to tackling the drivers of crime and making community sentences tougher and more effective.

“We recently invested an extra £80m to expand community treatment services in England – the biggest funding increase in 15 years – helping thousands more offenders turn their backs on crime and better protecting the public.”

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Police arrest three suspected r3pists for def!ling children in Kebbi

The Kebbi State Command has arrested three rapists for defiling children.

The spokesman for the command, CSP Nafiu Abubakar, disclosed this in a statement on Monday, January 13, 2024.

“On the 5th of January 2025, at about 1600 hrs, one Kalifa Ibrahim ‘M’ aged 19 yrs of the Gwazange area, Argungu, enticed one Rukayya Umar ‘F’ aged 8 yrs of the same address, to a hidden area and had s3xual intercourse with her,” the statement read.

“On receipt of the complaint, a team of policemen responded promptly and arrested the suspect.

“In the same vein, on the 5th of January, 2025, at about 1230, the suspect, one Abdullahi Abubakar ‘m’ aged 32yrs of Gwandu town, lured one Fatima Abubakar ‘f’ aged 4yrs of the same address, to an uncompleted building and had s3xual intercourse with her. Investigation into the case is ongoing.

“Similarly, on the 6th of January, 2025, at about 1120 hrs, one Okada rider named Fahad Kabiru ‘M’ of Gesse Phase 1, Birnin Kebbi, impregnated one Hafsat Sa’idu ‘f’ aged 16 yrs. The suspect has been arrested and confessed to the crime.”

The statement further said that the Commissioner of Police, Kebbi State Command, CP Bello Sani, had directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, to conduct a thorough investigation of the cases and ensure diligent prosecution accordingly.

The CP equally called on the good people of Kebbi State to always watch over their children and be conscious of the people to entrust with their children.

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Court Sacks Rivers PDP Chairman, Nullifies Congresses

A Port Harcourt division of the Rivers State High Court has barred the state executives of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Aaron Chukwuemeka from parading themselves as Exco of the party.

This was contained in a ruling on an interlocutory injunction delivered by presiding judge, Justice Stephen Jumbo, on Monday.

The case was filed by two Port Harcourt based legal practitioners, Edwin Woko, Love Otuonye, and two others who are members of the PDP against the party’s National chairman, state chairman, and nine others praying the court to declare null and void the purported PDP local government and ward congresses conducted the 319 wards and 23 LGAs by pro-Wike supporters on 27th of July, 10th August, and 31st August last year.

The applicants had contended that all the congresses were done in disobedience to an order of the Rivers State High Court issued on the 16th of July 2024 stopping the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as their agents and privies from conducting congresses pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons already filed.

This ruling is coming on the heels of a similar decision last year which also nullified the ward, local government, and state executives of the All Progressive Congress (APC) which had produced Tony Okocha.

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Governor Makinde presents Staff and Certificate of Office to New Alaafin

The governor of Oyo state, Engr Seyi Makinde, has officially presented the staff and certificate of office to the 46th Alaafin of Oyo, Prince Akeem Abimbola Owoade.

The presentation signals the formal ascension of the new monarch to the revered throne of Alaafin of Oyo.

Governor Makinde made the presentations in a brief ceremony held at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan on Monday, January 13. The governor highlighted the traditional importance of the Alaafin of Oyo, not just as a traditional ruler but custodian of rich history and tradition.

He expressed the belief that Oba Owoade will lead with wisdom, integrity, and a commitment to the unity of the Oyo kingdom.

For his part, the new Alaafin expressed gratitude to the people of Oyo and pledged to prioritise the development of the kingdom and the welfare of its residents.

Oba Owoade succeeds the late occupant of the throne, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III who reigned for 51 years before joining his ancestors.

Oyo State government announced the appointment of Prince Owoade as the Alaafin of Oyo on Friday.