'Sentence without fear' MP's plea

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A former Home Office minister has said that comments made by a judge at the heart of a sentencing row were "completely out of order."

Judge John Rogers QC did not jail a sex offender at Mold, saying he had to bear in mind "the current sentencing climate" due to prison overcrowding.

But Alun Michael warned judges should "sentence without fear or favour".

Mr Michael said courts must shoulder the blame for lenient jail terms and prison overcrowding, not politicians.

The Cardiff South and Penarth MP was responding to the political storm sparked by Judge Rogers, who gave a suspended sentence at Mold Crown Court.

Derek Williams, 46, from Blaenau Ffestiniog, had admitted downloading child porn.

Prison population

Instead, the judge suspended the father-of-two's six-month sentence, saying he had to consider a government request to jail only the most serious offenders.

Judge Rogers said: "As of yesterday, I have to bear in mind a communication from the home secretary."

Home Secretary John Reid had sent out a communication, reminding courts to only jail serious and persistent offenders because of prison overcrowding.

Mr Michael, who was a Home Office minister at the start of Tony Blair's Labour administration in 1997, told BBC Wales' Politics Show: "It's always been the case that judges should consider the impact on the prison population, the question of whether there's a danger to the public, as well as what the appropriateness of the punishment is."

The MP said the Lord Chief Justice has told judges the home secretary was simply underlining judges' responsibilities.

Mr Michael also said "there are problems with the degree of accuracy of sentences".

Mr Williams admitted he was 'lucky to be out'

Out of more than 200 cases, he said two thirds were found on appeal to be too lenient, proving that judges and not politicians were to blame.

Mr Michael also said the Home Office "isn't very good at doing things", adding it was a problematic department that covered a range of issues.

While Labour's getting to grips with policy, the department's problems remain entrenched., he said.

Reacting to the revelation that police have lost track of 322 sex offenders in Wales and England, Mr Michael said "it's necessary to get to the bottom of all this because there are a lot of people who've committed offences.

"The question is, are these individuals who are dangerous, who are posing a threat?

"And as with the discussion of the placing of prisoners in an open prison in Usk earlier this summer the question is - is it right, is it appropriate or is it something that either undermines confidence or puts the public at risk? "