Stop the revolving door of prison says council

Lib Dem Group Leader at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Cllr Simon Werner, has persuaded the Borough Council to support Justice Secretary Ken Clarke's attempt to close the revolving door of crime.

Cllr Simon Werner said, "It is vital that the opportunities offered by community sentences to effectively punish and reform offenders are examined alongside the role of prison.

"More than half of the crime in the country is committed by people who have been through the system. Action is needed to stop the revolving door of crime and re-offending.

"Ken Clarke has argued that prisons have a crucial role to play to punish the nasty people who commit nasty offences. They have to be punished and the protection of the public is the first priority of a Justice Minister."

Cllr Simon Werner added, "Prisons must be places of punishment but also of education, hard work and change. Simply locking people up, for the sake of it, is a waste of public funds."

The Lib Dems are pleased that Local Conservatives have also agreed to back supporting a more intelligent system of sentencing.