LONDON, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- British Home Secretary John Reid has called for the prompt release of thousands of imprisoned minor offenders to deal with overcrowding in prisons.
As British and Welsh prisons hover near their official capacities of 80,000, Reid added the release to a series of proposals intended to limit further overcrowding, The Times of London reported.
Officials at the Prison Reform Trust, which monitors the government's involvement in the prison system, applauded Reid's move but said government policy has contributed to the problem.
"Ministers are right to call at last for jails to be used more sparingly, not because they are full to bursting, but because the government's own scaremongering tactics have blocked prison beds with petty offenders, vulnerable women and children, addicts and the mentally ill," group director Juliet Lyon said.
Other options being considered by Reid include the release of foreign prisoners or immigration detainees, executive early release and moving prisoners to open prisons, the newspaper said.
