CRACKDOWN MAY MEAN 15 NEW JAILS

Fifteen new jails must be built to house the thousands of extra
offenders who will be imprisoned each year under tough sentencing to
be brought in by the Home Office, probation officers will warn today.

There could be about 60,000 additional offenders each year as a result
of the legislation, the National Association of Probation Officers
warned.

The criminal justice and court services bill, which received its
second reading yesterday, aims to tighten penalties for offenders
breaching community sentences and to crack down on drug offenders.

But probation officers predicted the legislation would require 15 new
jails and cost UKP210m a year. Napo said that up to 40,000 offenders
who breached community sentences, as well as 10,000 offenders denied
bail because they tested positive for class A drugs on arrest, would
be jailed. And the prison population could be increased by up to 7,500
offenders each year who breached curfews and orders to attend drug
treatment centres.

Napo's assistant general secretary, Harry Fletcher, said: "The
majority of this group need treatment and assistance, not
punishment."

The Home Office dismissed Napo's figures as "nonsense", estimating
that 15,000 people breaching orders under the new rules would be jailed.

A spokeswoman said: "We have calculated that, as a result of the
enforcement proposals, around 2,000 extra prison places will be required."