Jail For Knife Crime Teens After Clarke U-Turn

The Justice Secretary has performed a U-turn by announcing plans for mandatory jail sentences for 16 and 17-year-olds who threaten others with knives.

Kenneth Clarke's surprise move comes just a day after he told MPs that judges should have discretion over sentencing.

He had said that mandatory sentences were not the British way and led to a game in which judges would look for any excuse not to hand down the set terms.

Ministry of Justice officials have estimated that up to 400 teenagers could be convicted of using a knife or offensive weapon to threaten or endanger every year.

Mr Clarke appeared at odds with Home Secretary Theresa May on Tuesday when he urged caution before extending mandatory sentences to juveniles.

But in a statement issued on Wednesday evening he said such a move was needed "to send out a clear message about the seriousness of juvenile knife crime".

The proposals increase the use of US-style mandatory sentences, just a day after Mr Clarke said they were "a bit of a leap for the British judicial system", "a bit of an innovation", and an American way which goes against the British system.

Giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, he said the Government should carefully consider the repercussions of taking away judicial discretion before bringing in mandatory jail terms for juveniles who carry knives.

Under the proposals, anyone aged 16 or 17 convicted of using a knife or other weapon to threaten or endanger someone would face a four-month detention and training order, the main custodial sentence for under-18s.

Half of the sentence would be served in custody, meaning the teenagers would spend at least two months in detention.

The Government has already announced proposals for a mandatory six-month sentence for adults convicted of the same offence.

Mr Clarke said: "Clearly any extension of this sentence to children requires very careful consideration."

In addition, the Justice Secretary has announced he will scrap indeterminate sentences - open-ended tariffs that mean a prisoner is not released until a parole board says they are not a risk to the public.

He said more than 6,000 people were in jail due to this "absurd process".

"Unfortunately the parole board has no means of being scientifically certain about which of these are going to reoffend and which aren't and we're now piling up large numbers of people in prison, just held there," he told Sky News.

"We've got to actually of course protect the public by keeping in those who pose a danger but we should have a better system of criminal justice, one that is just and fair and gives people a chance to go straight when they've paid their dues to society."

But shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said Mr Clarke was "totally out of touch with public concerns".

Serious and violent prisoners who have finished their sentence but still pose a risk could be released to reoffend, he said.

"We will not accept plans that water-down the protection given by indeterminate sentences," he added.

Mr Clarke also plans to bring in mandatory life sentences for anyone convicted of a second very serious sexual or violent crime.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "American-style mandatory sentencing may sound tough but it is neither effective nor intelligent and has driven some states close to bankruptcy.

"Subject to good sentencing guidelines, what's wrong with allowing the courts to make sure that the sentence fits the crime?"