Emergency powers have been activated to avoid prison overcrowding as more rioters from Bolton , Manchester and elsewhere are sentenced. A temporary measure to manage pressures in prisons in the north of England has been reactivated, following longstanding capacity failures and recent outbreaks of far-right disorder. In recent weeks, prisons in the north of England have seen hundreds of people enter the prison estate, after the demonstrations.
This has exacerbated longstanding capacity issues in prisons, which have been operating at critical levels for the last several years. Operation Early Dawn, a long-standing plan to hold defendants in police cells and not summon them to magistrates’ courts until space in prison in available was activated on Monday morning. The Ministry of Justice says the measures will be put in place in the North East and Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, and the Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire regions.
Prisons and probation minister Lord Timpson said: “We inherited a justice system in crisis and exposed to shocks. As a result, we have been forced into making difficult but necessary decisions to keep it operating. “However, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff and partners, we have brought forward additional prison places and now introduced Operation Early Dawn to manage the pressure felt in some parts of the country.
” Riot police at Victoria Square (Image: Henry Lisowski) National Police Chiefs’ Council custody lead Deputy Chief.