Crowded jails boost reoffending

Prison overcrowding is undermining the rehabilitation of prisoners and risks increasing reoffending in the future, a report warns.

The Criminal Justice Alliance, which represents more than 60 organisations, called for the Government to urgently limit "the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring it is reserved for serious, persistent and violent offenders for whom no alternative sanction is appropriate".

The prison population in England and Wales hit 87,787 on Friday, about 98 per cent of the operational capacity. The all-time high was 88,179, set in December.