We must address rises in custody rate and prison sentence lengths

‘The custody rate for indictable offences rose from 24% in 2010 to 32% in 2017 and the average custodial sentence has increased steadily from 12.4 months in 2007 to 16.7 months in 2017,’ writes Howard Thomas.The Sentencing Council’s warning to the courts that a punitive culture has developed, imposing suspended sentences “as a more severe form of community order” (Report, 23 April), certainly gives cause for concern.The latest Criminal Justice Quarterly St