WILL JONES
The Sentencing Council – already embroiled in a political storm over its two-tier justice measures – plans to slash the penalties for illegally entering the UK, making deportations far harder. The Mail has more.
New guidelines for judges which propose watering down punishments for illegal immigration offences risk “blowing a hole” in Britain’s border controls, the Conservatives have warned.
The Sentencing Council – which is already embroiled in a political storm over its ‘two-tier justice’ measures – plans to slash the maximum jail terms for a range of immigration crimes.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the proposals will lead to hundreds of illegal immigrants a year being handed far weaker punishments than those approved by Parliament.
The guidelines could ultimately allow offenders to remain in Britain indefinitely because they will no longer meet a legal threshold to qualify for ‘automatic deportation’.
The Labour Government will be powerless to act because earlier this month it voted down Tory measures which would have granted Ministers a veto over the council’s work.
Mr Jenrick blasted the independent Sentencing Council for “disregarding Parliament’s will” on how severely illegal migrants and other immigration offenders should be punished.
“The guidelines the Sentencing Council has drafted will blow a hole in border enforcement,” the Conservative frontbencher said.
“Yet again it is acting in a way that disregards Parliament’s will.
“That’s why I brought forward a bill to restore ministerial oversight to the Council, but shamefully Labour opposed it.
“The Justice Secretary has chosen to be powerless to stop madness like this and the two-tier sentencing rules.”
An analysis of the Council’s draft guidelines, carried out by the Conservatives, showed the offence of knowingly entering Britain without leave – which Parliament said should carry up to four years in jail, and can be used against small boat migrants – could receive as little as nine months’ imprisonment even in serious cases.
In cases of lower culpability it could even be dealt with by a community sentence, the guidelines suggest.
The offence of “deception” to enter or remain in Britain can carry up to two years’ imprisonment under laws passed by Parliament.
But under the Council’s proposals high culpability cases would get as little as nine months and lower culpability ones would, again, escape with a community sentence.
Parliament set out how the offence of “possession of false identity documents with improper intention” should carry up to 10 years in jail.
But the draft guidelines suggest an upper ceiling of eight years for the worst cases, with as little as six months’ imprisonment for high- and medium-ranking offences, or a community sentence for less serious examples.
The proposals would curtail the Home Office’s ability to deport hundreds of foreign criminals convicted of immigration offences, the Tories suggested.
It’s almost as though the judiciary has been captured by an unaccountable Leftist cabal.
Worth reading in full.
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