NI: Prison population declines for first time in five years
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Northern Ireland’s prison population declined last year for the first time since 2010, according to new Department of Justice figures.
The Northern Ireland Prison Population 2015 and 2015/16 sets out the average daily prison population and the number of receptions into prisons in 2015 and the financial year 2015/16.
The average daily prison population during 2015 was 1,661, a decrease of 9.2 per cent from the previous year.
For the fourth year in a row, the average daily remand prisoner population fell, decreasing by 5.5 per cent in 2015 (421 to 398).
Northern Ireland had 87 prisoners for every 100,000 people in the population during 2015 - compared to 80 in Ireland, 148 in England and Wales, and 143 in Scotland.
The dispute with barristers and some solicitors over changes to legal aid rules had some impact on the figures, with a 35.6 per cent decrease in Crown Court disposals and 38.4 per cent fall in Crown Court custodial convictions during 2015.
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