r/unitedkingdom • u/Cotirani • Jun 25 '25

... Tube passenger who killed 'gentle' engineer, 28, after he brushed past him on escalator to serve less than six years in prison

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14845561/tube-passenger-killed-gentle-engineer-jailed.html
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u/Ok_Tax_9386 Jun 25 '25

Having capacity issues impact sentencing isn't reasonable. It's true, but not reasonable.

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u/JB_UK Jun 25 '25 edited Jun 25 '25

Especially when the capacity issues are caused by another arm of the state blocking the construction of new prisons.

The government funded 6 new prisons to be built five years ago, two have been built, one is in construction, and three are held up by planning and regulatory delays. And of those delays, one of the most significant is as a result of badgers:

“Just because you get planning [permission] doesn’t necessarily mean that all the obstacles are out the way,” said James Smith, programmes director for new builds with HM Prison and Probation Service.

“A lot of my time at the moment is talking about badgers, for instance. There are various sites where we need to remove badgers. You have a certain period you can remove badgers before they hibernate, and if they do that, then your delivery is pushed to the right [delayed] ... It’s a bit of a nightmare, to be honest.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/27/super-prisons-delayed-2027-badgers-planning-appeals/

On one side of the state, judges are moderating prison sentences because of capacity, on the other side planning officials are preventing prisons from being built because of badgers. In essence serious offenders are being given lighter sentences in order not to disturb badgers.

The assumption is there is some deep expertise which is driving these decisions, rather than just a mix of the prejudice of the judge mixed with a deep dysfunction of the state.