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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| 'Weekend prison' scheme scrapped | 'Weekend prison' scheme scrapped |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The Home Office is to abandon pilot schemes for "weekend prison" to free up prison places for serious offenders. | The Home Office is to abandon pilot schemes for "weekend prison" to free up prison places for serious offenders. |
| Intermittent Custody Orders were launched in January 2004 for people who had committed an offence but were not judged high risk. | Intermittent Custody Orders were launched in January 2004 for people who had committed an offence but were not judged high risk. |
| When they were not in prison, they were under the supervision of probation officers, either working, looking for a job or doing unpaid community work. | When they were not in prison, they were under the supervision of probation officers, either working, looking for a job or doing unpaid community work. |
| The sentences will be withdrawn on 20 November, the Home Office said. | The sentences will be withdrawn on 20 November, the Home Office said. |
| The decision comes as jails in England and Wales are so overcrowded that Home Secretary John Reid was forced to house prisoners in police station cells. | |
| 'More serious offenders' | |
| Home Office minister Lady Scotland said although there were some benefits to the three-year pilot, the people it dealt with were not a priority. | Home Office minister Lady Scotland said although there were some benefits to the three-year pilot, the people it dealt with were not a priority. |
| "All of our attention, energies and resources must go into protecting the public from the most and more serious offenders," she said. | "All of our attention, energies and resources must go into protecting the public from the most and more serious offenders," she said. |
| The scheme was launched by the then Home Secretary David Blunkett at Kirkham Prison in Preston and Morton Hall prison in Lincoln. | |
| Offenders spent weekends or weekdays in jail, and the rest of their time in the community supervised by probation officers. | |
| If they failed to behave, they could be given full-time custody. | |
| At its launch, Mr Blunkett said it could punish offenders while at the same time allowing them to participate in programmes to address their behaviour and made reparations to the community. | |
| The scheme has been criticised by the Conservatives, amongst others. | |
| Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said "weekend prisons" were inappropriate because there was no such thing as a "weekend criminal". | Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said "weekend prisons" were inappropriate because there was no such thing as a "weekend criminal". |