Britain near top of penal league

Britain puts more of its population behind bars than almost any other country in Western Europe, according to a report published today. Only Spain and Portugal had a higher proportion of people in prison, the survey by the Prison Reform Trust found.

And within Britain, Scotland had the greatest proportion in jail, with 110 people for every 100,000 of the population serving a prison term.

That was followed by Northern Ireland, with 106 per 100,000 in prison, and England and Wales with 99.

Those figures, from 1995, compare with 122 per 100,000 in Spain and 119 in Portugal.

At the other end of the scale, Switzerland has just 58 per 100,000 in jail, with Ireland, Norway, Finland and Greece all on 60.

However, Britain has a long way to go before it catches up with the US, with 615 per 100,000 behind bars, or Russia with 690.

Prison Reform Trust director Stephen Shaw said: "The number of people behind bars is one European league table this country has no need to top."