IN the past seven months the number of criminals walking free from court, some of whom have committed horrible crimes, has increased massively.

This is something noticeable on a wider scale, and in the stories we have covered, where the number of suspended sentences being handed out has spiked since March of this year.

A suspended sentence sees a defendant walk free from jail, able to go about their everyday life under limited restrictions as long as they avoid further crimes.

Whilst this was previously predominantly used for minor crimes, this has recently been used in some cases for violent and serious crimes.

An example of this is a recent case we covered last month, in which a driver was found to have killed a young man called Liam Walsh. Glyn Davies, whose driving killed Liam, received a suspended sentence.

A courtroom full of family were shocked when they heard the 10-month sentence would be suspended, with the victim’s mother reading out a statement in court saying, ‘Me and Liam’s family have been given a life sentence, we are here today to get justice for him.’

Warrington Guardian: Glyn Davies (left) and Liam Walsh (right)Glyn Davies (left) and Liam Walsh (right) (Image: Supplied)

In the case of many victims’ family’s however, a suspended sentence is often not considered the adequate justice they require for closure. So why are so many being handed out?

The sudden spike can largely be traced back to one specific cause. England and Wales’ prisons are full.

In March of this year, a high court appeal, R vs Ali, involved a prisoner who threw hot water in a guard’s face after a period of 29 days in solitary confinement.

Due to Covid delays, Arie Ali had been waiting since his release from prison in July 2020 for his sentencing for this further crime in prison.

Despite having stayed out of trouble since then, Ali was issued a six-month immediate custodial sentence. In a high court appeal, this was overturned and ruled unnecessary, stating that it should’ve been issued as a suspended sentence.

Court documents from this case say: “A further exceptional factor arises from the fact that the appellant was sentenced at a time of very high prison population.”

Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk announced a set of prison reforms this week that could see the early release of low-level offenders.

Latest figures show that, with 88,225 people currently incarcerated in England and Wales, only 560 empty spaces are left across the entire of the two United Kingdom nations.

Due to this ruling, numerous cases will consider R vs Ali as a precedent, encouraging judges to hand out suspended sentences wherever they can.

This ruling means that the vast majority of cases under two years, with some special exceptions, are being handed out as suspended sentences.

In short, until the government is able to solve the prison crisis, more and more serious criminals will receive suspended sentences and walk free from court.