Emergency plan to tackle prison overcrowding put in place following riot convictions | UK news

Fearing that British prisons would become overcrowded if more rioters were convicted, an emergency plan was put in place.

The government launched Operation Early Dawn because it feared that space would become scarce in prisons, which are already full to the brim.

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

Previously, violent riots had broken out in numerous British cities following the Southport stabbing. As a result, almost 1,000 people were arrested and 400 people were charged.

Hundreds of people have been detained in northern England, which has “exacerbated long-standing capacity problems”, the government said.

It said that prisons had been “operating at critical levels over the past few years, often at less than one percent of their capacity.”

This means that criminals in custody will not be summoned to court until a place becomes available.

However, the special operation was not carried out in all prisons in the UK – it was also activated in the North East and Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, as well as in Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons and Probation, said: “We have inherited a justice system that is in crisis and facing shocks. That is why we are being forced to make difficult but necessary decisions to keep it running.”

Police assured that the operation would not affect the police's ability to arrest criminals and that bail would not be granted against those deemed to be a danger to the public.

Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp, head of police custody at the National Police Chiefs' Council, said police would continue to “arrest anyone necessary to ensure public safety” at protests and events.

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