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Resignation adds to Reid pressure Reid faces 'anarchy' accusation
(about 2 hours later)
Pressure on Home Secretary John Reid has grown after the head of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales quit over prison overcrowding. Home Secretary John Reid is under fire on several fronts as the Conservatives accused his department of descending into "anarchy".
Rod Morgan said youth prisons were being "swamped" by minor offenders. First the head of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales, Rod Morgan, quit in protest at prison overcrowding.
It comes as a second judge says he released a sex offender because Mr Reid urged judges to avoid jailing people. A second judge then said he released a sex offender because Mr Reid had urged judges to avoid jailing people.
The Tories said it was an "outrage" that ministers were putting public safety at risk by seeking to persuade judges to pass lesser sentences. And Mr Reid admitted the government acted "unlawfully" in relation to the detention young asylum seekers.
In sentencing 46-year-old Keith Morris, from Newton Abbot, who pleaded guilty to serious sex offences against a teenager, Judge Graham Cottle said he was only considering bail because of the difficulties in remanding people in custody. The admission that the detention policy "did not strike the right balance" came in High Court test cases in which detained children whose said they were under 18 are seeking damages for loss of liberty.
Judge Cottle, who sits at Exeter Crown Court, said "If this case had been here last week it would have been over by now and he would be in Exeter Prison." Sex offenders
The judge said that because the offences to which Morris had pleaded guilty carried a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison he faced imprisonment for public protection. Mr Reid has been under fire on prison overcrowding since he and other ministers wrote to judges and magistrates asking them to imprison only the most dangerous of offenders.
But he said he needed a "pre-sentence report to address the issue of dangerousness". The prime minister and home secretary's initiatives are looking less like an agenda for respect and more like an agenda for anarchy David Davis, shadow home secretary class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6302011.stm">Profile: Rod Morgan class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6302919.stm">Asylum policy 'unlawful'
Another Crown Court judge has openly defied Mr Reid's advice, saying politicians should wake up to the fact prisoners were reoffending "because judges can no longer pass deterrent sentences". The subsequent release of two sex offenders has led to criticism from the Conservatives, who have accused ministers of failing to protect the public.
Tory leader David Cameron said ministers had to stop "rearranging the chairs" on the stricken Home Office ship and "get their sleeves rolled up and deal with this crisis".
Earlier, Judge Graham Cottle said he had released 46-year-old Keith Morris, facing a maximum of 14 years in jail for serious sex offences, on bail pending a pre-sentence report because of prison overcrowding.
"If this case had been here last week it would have been over by now and he would be in Exeter Prison," Judge told Exeter Crown Court.
This follows a case on Thursday where Judge John Rogers QC gave a man convicted of child porn offences a suspended sentence because he had to bear in mind "the current sentencing climate".
Another judge, Richard Bray, sitting at Northampton Crown Court, said politicians should wake up to the fact prisoners were reoffending "because judges can no longer pass deterrent sentences".
'Swamping''Swamping'
Judge Richard Bray, sitting at Northampton Crown Court, said he would pass whatever sentences, including jail terms, he felt appropriate. Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview given to BBC Two's Newsnight, youth justice chief Rod Morgan said youth courts and children's prisons were being "swamped" with minor offenders who were "cluttering up" the system.
In an exclusive interview given to BBC Two's Newsnight, Mr Morgan said youth courts and children's prisons were being overrun with minor offenders who are "cluttering up" the system. Echoing the row with adult prisoner places, the professor told Newsnight: "We're standing on the brink of a prisons crisis.
Echoing the row with adult prisoner places, the professer told Newsnight: "We're standing on the brink of a prisons crisis.
The prime minister and home secretary's initiatives are looking less like an agenda for respect and more like an agenda for anarchy David Davis, shadow home secretary Profile: Rod Morgan
"We have tonight lots of people in police cells because there is no space for them in custody and that's true for children and young people also."We have tonight lots of people in police cells because there is no space for them in custody and that's true for children and young people also.
"I regard a 26% increase in the number of children and young people that are being drawn into the system in the past three years as swamping.""I regard a 26% increase in the number of children and young people that are being drawn into the system in the past three years as swamping."
Mr Morgan became Chair of the Youth Justice Board in April 2004. 'Crisis'
He was formerly HM Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales, a post he took up in August 2001. A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We refute the claim that young people are being demonised and criminalised."
'Anarchy'
Shadow home secretary David Davis said of the resignation: "Apart from reinforcing the existing chaos in the Home Office this is a demonstration of the lack of the government's own credibility.
"It is no good the government chasing headlines without providing the proper resources and capabilities to deliver the task.
When John Reid attacked sentences, I knew that he'd come to regret it BBC political editor Nick Robinson Read Nick's thoughts in full
"The prime minister and home secretary's initiatives are looking less like an agenda for respect and more like an agenda for anarchy."
The Home Office said Mr Morgan had been given an opportunity to re-apply for his job at the end of his first three year term but had declined.
A spokeswoman hit back at Mr Morgan's criticisms of the youth justice system.
"We refute the claim that young people are being demonised and criminalised. Considerable emphasis has been placed on providing activities for young people."
But she added: "We remain unapologetic about the need to tackle anti-social behaviour by anyone, regardless of their age."But she added: "We remain unapologetic about the need to tackle anti-social behaviour by anyone, regardless of their age."
Porn case
Mr Morgan's resignation follows opposition attacks on the home secretary over a child pornography case.
Derek Williams, 46, of Blaenau Ffestiniog, pleaded guilty to 10 charges of making indecent photographs between November 2005 and May last year.
The court heard he had downloaded dozens of pornographic images of children on to his computer.
But his six-month term of imprisonment was suspended for two years.
In sentencing Judge John Rogers QC said he had to bear in mind "the current sentencing climate".
This week, Mr Reid and other Cabinet ministers wrote to judges and magistrates asking them to imprison only the most dangerous and persistent criminals.
HAVE YOUR SAY Overcrowded and full prisons are indicative of a rapidly increasing crime rate Gordon, Southampton Send us your commentsHAVE YOUR SAY Overcrowded and full prisons are indicative of a rapidly increasing crime rate Gordon, Southampton Send us your comments
And on Thursday Mr Reid announced emergency measures to deal with the prison crisis.
Figures released earlier show the prison population in England and Wales is at bursting point, having reached 79,731, an increase of 356 on last Friday.Figures released earlier show the prison population in England and Wales is at bursting point, having reached 79,731, an increase of 356 on last Friday.
Mr Reid revealed an RAF camp in the north of England is to be used to house convicts, and he is also in negotiations over the purchase of two prison ships. Commenting on the Home Office's troubles, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "The prime minister and home secretary's initiatives are looking less like an agenda for respect and more like an agenda for anarchy."
Construction has also started on prefabricated units to go into a prison in Merseyside.