Judges imposing more short sentences than five years ago
Reading time: 1 minute
Judges imposed sentences of less than three months’ imprisonment in twice as many cases last year as five years earlier, according to new figures.
A total of 994 sentences of three months or less were handed down in 2022, making up 20 per cent of all custodial sentences, The Irish Times reports. This represents a 116 per cent increase on 2017, when sentences of three months or less made up just seven per cent of all sentences.
The figures were obtained in the Oireachtas by Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, justice spokesperson for the Labour Party.
Commenting on the figures, Mr Ó Ríordáin said: “Rather than seeing prison as the go-to option, we should be looking at tackling the systemic disadvantage and inequality that continues to drive more and more people into crime.
“Just who is it serving to send people to prison, only for them to boomerang out again in less than six months?”
A penal policy review published by government ministers last August called for a reduction in the use of sentences of three months or less and an increased use of non-custodial sanctions.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
