Criminals face pub and football ban under new strict sentencing overhaul
GB NEWS
The sentencing changes are set to come into effect next month
Don't Miss
Most Read
Trending on GB News
Criminals could be banned from pubs and football matches under new, tougher sentencing reforms.
Judges will be granted greater use of banning orders to apply to convicts on probation after being released from prison and those handed non-custodial sentences.
The changes will come into effect in the Sentencing Bill, which will be rolled out to parliament next month.
**ARE YOU READING THIS ON OUR APP? DOWNLOAD NOW FOR THE BEST GB NEWS EXPERIENCE**
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood wants to implement bans on social activities to become more mainstream, stating that it will restrict criminals' liberty during their sentence.
"Shabana has always been clear that punishment outside prison must mean exactly that: punishment. She believes community punishment has too often been a soft option, and it must be more restrictive and more punitive," a source close to Mahmood told The Times.
"She believes criminals should be banned from football games and their local pub, not just because it might be a cause of their offending, but also because they simply should be punished and stopped from doing the things they like.
"She thinks that committing a crime means that you have sacrificed your right to liberty, and sees this as being just as true for someone punished in the community as someone sent to jail.
"That's why she believes so wholeheartedly in the most invasive forms of tagging, and on placing greater restrictions on offenders, like these new punishments do."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Criminals could be banned from the pub in a new sentencing overhaul
| PAOther changes in the bill include mandatory drug testing and a series of measures to prevent a repeat of the prison overcrowding crisis as seen last summer.
These include cutting the time less serious offenders serve in jail to a third of their sentence, as well as moving away from custodial sentenced for those sentenced to less than a year.
Ms Mahmood hopes the increase in banning orders will back off comments from the Conservatives that Labour is "soft on crime".
The Justice Secretary said: "When criminals break society's rules, they must be punished. Those serving their sentences in the community must have their freedom restricted there too.
"These new punishments should remind all offenders that, under this Government, crime does not pay."
While judges already have the power to dish out the bans, they can only be handed down for a "relevant offence" right now.
For example, a driving ban can only be imposed for motor-related offences.
In a recent sentencing review commissioned by Mahmood, former Conservative Justice Secretary David Gauke pushed for courts to be given more flexibility with bans.
Shabana Mahmood will announce the changes next month
| PAMahmood accepted Gauke's recommendations and will be altering the law.
The Sentencing Bill will give judges the ability to enforce driving limits, travel bans and "restriction zones" that limit offenders' movements to specific areas.
The probation service will be able to impose banning orders for convicts when they are freed from prison.