Thieves and fraudsters must NEVER be jailed: That's the advice from Labour's ex crime adviser who says prison terms are an 'abuse of State power'

Professor Andrew Ashworth said locking up thieves and fraudsters and 'condemning' them to prison was an 'abuse of State power' (file picture)

Serial thieves, pickpockets and fraudsters should never be jailed, a former Government sentencing adviser declared last night.
Professor Andrew Ashworth claimed even repeat offenders with dozens of convictions should be spared the ‘pain’ of a prison term.
He said locking up thieves and fraudsters and ‘condemning’ them to prison was an ‘abuse of State power’. Instead, he argued, they should be fined, given community service and forced to pay for the damage they have caused.
The controversial comments in a pamphlet for a penal reform group were condemned as ‘extreme’ and ‘callous’ towards victims by crime prevention campaigners.
Prof Ashworth, now an Oxford University law professor, said jail was ‘disproportionate’ for what he called ‘pure’ property offences, including theft, handling stolen goods, criminal damage and fraud.
Depriving someone of their liberty for an offence that ‘only’ targeted property was unfair, he claimed, arguing that jail should be reserved for violent and sexual crimes.
He described the theft of £250 worth of clothes from a store as ‘in the overall scale of things...not  serious harm’.
Prof Ashworth was chairman of the Sentencing Advisory Panel for three years under Labour when there were repeated criticisms that policy was going soft.
His comments came in a pamphlet for the Howard League for Penal Reform, which calls for fewer criminals to be jailed and a rise in the age of criminal responsibility, currently ten in England.
‘We should be reserving our most severe form of punishment for our most serious types of offending,’ said Prof Ashworth.
‘Should someone be sent to prison and deprived of their liberty for an offence that involves no violence, no threats and no sexual assault?’ He said this was ‘an abuse of State power’.

The professor added: ‘Instead, the priority should be to deal with such offences in the community, giving precedence to compensation for the victim and, where the offence is sufficiently serious, imposing a community sentence.’
The result of such a policy would be more than 25,000 fewer criminals sent to jail every year, most for theft and handling offences.
Peter Cuthbertson, director of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: ‘These extreme recommendations are callous towards victims and show a complete ignorance of the facts.

Prof Ashworth said jail was 'disproportionate' for what he called 'pure' property offences, including theft, handling stolen goods, criminal damage and fraud (file picture)

‘Only an ivory tower academic who started out determined to reduce prison numbers whatever the evidence could reach this conclusion.
‘Theft is not a “minor offence”. Victims can find their lives  transformed by fear. Making a promise to thieves and fraudsters that they will never go to prison is ridiculous.
‘Already the courts bend over backwards to give criminals  community sentences and fines which fail to protect the public. Prison protects the public.
‘More prison places and longer sentences would be better for  victims and most likely to turn these thieves’ lives around.’
Last year, around 91,000 serious and repeat offenders, including  thousands of thieves and other property criminals, escaped jail.
Frances Crook, chief executive of the League, said theft and fraud victims were losing out as too much priority was given to jailing criminals rather than returning stolen property and compensation.
She backed fines, compensation orders and community sentences over jail ‘which produce a much lower rate of reoffending at a fraction of the cost’.

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