CRIMINALS from ethnic, religious and gender minorities could get softer sentences in a move tonight slammed as “two-tier justice”.
New rules will force judges to take into account the characteristics when deciding whether to send them to jail.
GettyJustice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has slapped down the Sentencing Council[/caption]
PAShadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has decried ‘two-tier’ justice[/caption]
The Sentencing Council today announced it was drastically widening the criteria for when a pre-sentence report is provided to the court.
Judges are usually handed the reports when weighing whether someone should be locked up or not, including details of their criminal record and plea.
But updated guidelines now say one should be made if the offender is “from an ethnic minority, cultural minority and/or faith minority community”, or “are transgender”.
The new rules – enforced from April 1 – sparked uproar that people of different ethnicities and faiths could be treated differently under the law.
Tory Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick blasted: “This is completely outrageous. Under Two-Tier Keir our justice system is set to have an anti-white and anti-Christian bias.”
Reform MP Rupert Lowe added: “We are in the remarkable position of white British men being proactively discriminated against by the law.
“Racism is welcomed and encouraged, as long as it’s white people on the receiving end? It’s disgusting.”
Top lawyer Lord Wolfson KC said: “It’s not immediately clear to me why, if I were to commit a crime, a pre-sentence report (without which it would be harder to avoid a prison sentence) would normally be considered necessary because I’m Jewish, but that wouldn’t seemingly apply if I were Christian.”
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood last night slammed the new rules and demanded a u-turn independent Sentencing Council.
She said: “These guidelines do not represent my views or the views of this government.
“I will be writing to the Sentencing Council to register my displeasure and recommend reversing this change to guidance.
“As someone who is from an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law, for anyone of any kind.
“There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch.”
But it was revealed tonight that one of her representatives was present when the new guidance was drawn up.
The Sentencing Council said last night: “Our aim is to make sure courts have the most comprehensive information so they can impose a tailored sentence that is the most appropriate for the offender and the offence.”
The Sentencing Council is a 15-strong panel of judges and legal figures who provide guidelines courts should follow when handing down punishments.
It is a powerful independent body chaired by Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, who was recently criticised for saying politicians should not criticise court rulings.
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