Alex Chalk has insisted the Government is not going soft on low-level criminals like shoplifters (Image: Getty)
Sentences of less than a year are likely to be suspended and offenders given community service instead.
Mr Chalk announced yesterday some less serious convicts will be moved out of prison up to 18 days before their release date to help ease jail overcrowding.
He said: “We will legislate for a presumption that custodial sentences of less than 12 months in prison will be suspended, and offenders will be punished in the community instead, repaying their debt within communities – cleaning up our neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls.
“Less serious offenders will be better punished in the community and the public better served with less crime as a result.
“We are also doubling the number of GPS tags so they can be better monitored and have their freedom restricted with tough curfews.
“But I can reassure Express readers that those hardened offenders unable or unwilling to comply will continue to hear the clang of the prison gate.
“As will the wife-beaters, paedophiles and muggers who pose the greatest risk. And taking this approach will allow us to ensure rapists are forced to spend their entire prison term behind bars. Fifteen years will mean 15 years.”
He also confirmed plans to send more foreign offenders home.
However, retail groups raised concerns about the message it sent about shoplifters.
Andrew Goodacre, chair of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: “Independent retailers tell me that shop theft has increased due to a lack of proportionate response from the relevant authorities.
“Police have not been responding to reported incidents and any punishment is seen as insufficient to deter the criminals.
“If shop theft is treated as a petty crime, despite the Home Office publicly stating that it is now a priority, then the problem of shop theft will only increase.
“Perennial offenders and organised crime have realised that it is a low-risk, high-reward crime and until we break this perception
and this vicious circle, the problem will grow.”
READ MORE: Tesco boss urges tighter police ties to tackle shoplifting surge
Lord High Chancellor Alex Chalk (Image: Getty)
Paddy Lillis, general secretary of the shopworkers union Usdaw, feared the announcement with give the “impression that shoplifting has effectively been decriminalised”. He said: “There are too few officers patrolling the streets and our members say they rarely see the police in stores.
“The policy of issuing fixed penalty notices for thefts under £200 leads to too few of these crimes being investigated and prosecuted.
“There has been a 24% increase in police recorded shoplifting and much of that increase is driven by criminal gangs with links to the illegal drugs trade. Our members would be distressed if violent shoplifters are not appropriately punished for the terror they reign in stores.
The union urged the Scottish protection of workers law to be extended to the rest of the UK.
Tory MP Philip Davies, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on customer service, said he felt “sorry” for the Justice Secretary who “inherited this problem and not caused it”.
He added: “But it is already extremely difficult for criminals like shoplifters to be sent to prison.
“It is ridiculous. We need more prison places and more criminals in prison not fewer.” James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stories, said it was imperative that theft is investigated by the police and that these crimes are treated seriously.
He said: “Custodial sentences are one tool available to deal with those committing offences but are not the only effective way of getting prolific offenders off the streets.
“We know that addiction is a big contributor to repeat offences so in these cases targeted rehabilitation programmes would be more appropriate than a brief stint in prison.”
Matt Hood, the Co-op Food’s managing director, called on police last month to take shoplifting more seriously while sharing his frustrations over a lack of action against thieves, who cost the business £33million in the first half of this year.
He also said police did not respond to 71% of reports of serious crimes.
Tom Ironside, at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retail crime is getting worse – thieves are becoming bolder, and more aggressive. More needs to be done to deter perpetrators, however changes to sentencing will make little difference unless criminals are caught and prosecuted. Currently very few shoplifters even appear before the courts.
“We need the police to do more to prioritise retail crime and bring levels of violence, abuse and theft down for good.”
Comment by Alex Chalke, KC
Over the last decade, the Government has come down hard on the worst criminals in our society. We have ensured that those who wield knives on our streets, kill through reckless and dangerous driving, and are cruel to children spend longer than ever under lock and key.
We’ve reversed Labour’s change that let serious sex and violent offenders walk out of prison halfway through their sentence. Under the Conservatives, monsters are getting locked up for longer.
Under the Conservatives, we have cut crime too. Violent crime is down 46% and domestic burglary 55%. But I know Express readers will be as keen as I am to bring it down further.
That’s why I announced plans to protect the public by breaking the cycle of reoffending that is perpetuated by short stints in prison. Too often our prisons become finishing schools for hardened criminals.
Weeks in prison for something minor results in offenders being steered further into crime – with the loss of their homes or jobs and putting them in touch with more seasoned criminals.
Without time to address the drug or mental health issues that drive low-level crime, they end up more likely to re-offend than those who don’t go to prison.
This costs £47,000 per prisoner, per year forked out by the taxpayer. This Government is determined to grasp the nettle and deliver a better approach.
Less serious offenders will be better punished in the community. We will get them to clean neighbourhoods and scrub graffiti. We are also doubling the number of GPS tags so they can be better monitored.
I reassure Express readers that hardened offenders unwilling to comply will continue to hear the clang of the prison gate. As will wife-beaters, paedophiles and muggers who pose the greatest risk. This approach will allow us to ensure rapists are forced to spend their entire prison term behind bars. Fifteen years will mean 15 years.
We are already over a quarter through building an extra 20,000 prison places for the dangerous offenders. It is the right plan that will cut crime, reduce reoffending and keep the public safe.
The Rt Hon Alex Chalke, KC is Lord High Chancellor.
Mr Chalk blamed the pandemic and barristers’ strikes action for the growing remand population.
The jail population last week hit a record high in recent times, leaving just over 550 spare places in the system. There were 88,225 inmates behind bars in England and Wales on Friday, up more than 200 in a week.
Shop thefts have more than doubled in the past three years, reaching eight million in 2021/2022.
That cost retailers £953million, according to the BRC.
The Association of Convenience Stores has warned it has recorded its highest-ever levels of shoplifting over the past year.
The ACS, which represents more than 33,500 shops, said 1.1 million incidents were reported to the police.
Mr Chalk referred to the thousands who pose a threat and are imprisoned indefinitely as a “stain on our justice system” and promised a review.
He said: “We will take decisive action to address sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection.
“We put a stop to these discredited sentences a decade ago. But there remain around 3,000 IPP prisoners in custody despite their original tariff expiring years ago.”
