Emergency plan triggered to tackle prison overcrowding after riot sentencings

An emergency plan has been triggered over fears UK prisons could get overcrowded as more rioters are sentenced.

The government has brought in Operation Early Dawn following concerns that prisons – which are already full to the brim – could run out of space.

The move means defendants can be held in police custody until prison space becomes available.

It comes after violent disorder across towns and cities in the UK in the wake of the Southport stabbing which has seen almost 1,000 arrests and 400 people charged.

UK prison system is feeling the pressure as more rioters have been sentenced (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Hundreds of people have been sent to jail in the north of England which has ‘exacerbated longstanding capacity issues’, the government said.

It said prisons have been ‘operating at critical levels for the last several years, often with under 1% capacity.’

This means offenders remanded in custody will be summoned to court only when a space is ready.

But the special operation has not been brought in for every prison in the UK – it has been activated in North East and Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, and Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

Lord Timpson, prisons and probation minister, said: ‘We inherited a justice system in crisis and exposed to shocks. As a result, we have been forced into making difficult but necessary decisions to keep it operating.’

The police reassured that the operation does not impact forces’ ability to arrest criminals, and those who are considered a risk to the public will not be bailed.

Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Custody, said policing at protests and events will continue ‘to arrest anyone that they need in order to keep the public safe.’

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