Petty criminals could find themselves serving their sentence stacking shelves in Iceland rather than behind bars as part of new proposals put forward to prisons minister, Lord Timpson.
The idea, which is in its very early stages, could see low-risk offenders diverted away from prison by being given a paid role in the shops as part of a suspended sentence.
It has been put to Lord Timpson by Iceland’s chief executive Richard Walker, who switched his support to Labour ahead of the election, and Paul Cowley, who is the company’s first director of rehabilitation.
Walker said: “We have a prisons crisis, and we have a solution that we think could be really powerful. And look, if people mess up and they don’t turn up for work, then they do go inside.”
Cowley and Walker have spoken to two former attorneys-general about the feasibility of the plan, who told them the plan was legally possible and could act like a suspended sentence.
Cowley said: “If it all goes well, then that’s your sentence. You don’t go to prison. You don’t lose your home, kids don’t go into care. And if it doesn’t, and it all goes pear shaped, then it’s a suspended sentence which kicks in.
“But it’s an opportunity to get rid of a custodial sentence. And I believe, and the company believes, that that would have some impact on reducing reoffending and our prison population.”
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