Judge moves to defuse prisons row

The bitter row between the Home Secretary and the judiciary over the prisons overcrowding crisis appears calmer after the country's top judge intervened.

The Lord Chief Justice made the unusual step on Saturday of trying to defuse the row, declaring it was "appropriate" for judges to consider the state of prison overcrowding when passing sentence.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the most senior judge in England and Wales, said John Reid had not sought to instruct judges to stop imposing prison sentences on offenders.

In a statement, he described the advice issued to the courts on sentencing by Mr Reid, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, as a "helpful summary of the present situation".

Lord Phillips's rare intervention came after a number of judges freed offenders - including at least two child sex offenders - citing Mr Reid's warning on prison overcrowding.

Meanwhile, the Independent on Sunday reports that Mr Reid is considering putting offenders on "waiting lists" to ease prison overcrowding. It claims that a similar system could be established to that which exists in countries including Norway where prisoners have to wait up to two years to start their sentence because the prisons are full.

But a Home Office spokeswoman vigorously denied the claim, saying: "There is no such scheme under consideration. It is not true."

Lord Phillips said that Mr Reid's advice was consistent with both existing sentencing legislation and well-established sentencing principles. When deciding whether to pass an immediate custodial sentence, it was up to the judge to have regard to the effect of the sentence he was considering, he said.

"There is well and long-established authority of the Court of Appeal that in such circumstances it is appropriate for the judge to have regard to prison overcrowding," Lord Phillips said.

"To this extent it is appropriate that, when imposing sentence, the judge should have regard to the present state of the prisons. Where the judge concludes that the offence requires a custodial sentence it remains his or her duty to impose one."