Women being jailed for minor offences

PRISONER rights advocates are opposing the planned doubling of detention places for women after research has shown large numbers of females are serving time for non-serious offences, including road traffic incidents and non-payment of debts or fines.

More than three-quarters of women prisoners served sentences of six months or less, according to a study of cases over recent years.

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, which carried out the research, has said plans for increased detention spaces in the proposed super-prison at Thornton Hall, north Dublin, are “questionable”.

The doubling of prison places were not supported by statistics in relation to the crimes for which women were convicted nor by the length of their sentences, argued the centre’s director, Fr Tony O’Riordan.

“The existence of the places will lessen any impulse to try to expand non-custodial alternatives, and make imprisonment the option of last resort.”

He stressed that the places would be a huge burden on the taxpayer with the average cost of detaining a person running at €100,000 per year.

“More importantly, it will be costly in terms of lessening the chances of women reforming and rebuilding their lives, given the profoundly negative effects of imprisonment not just on the women detained but on their families, especially their children,” added Fr O’Riordan.

The study analysed Central Statistics Office data on court convictions against women and Irish Prison Service statistics on the imprisonment of women, over the period 2003 to 2006.

The research showed there was no evidence of an upward trend in crime by women.

In 2004, 27% of female convictions were for “theft and related offences”. Another 25% were for road traffic incidents of a non-serious nature. Only 11% were for “dangerous or negligent acts” while 1% were for “assaults causing harm”.

The research also showed how imprisonment was largely used for detaining women on remand or under immigration legislation.

In 2006, out of a total of 1,160 female committals to prison, 459 (40%) were committals on remand and 292 (25%) were immigration related.

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice is critical of Government plans to close down the main female jail, the Dóchas Centre, and double place numbers at Thornton Hall. There are also plans to build a prison to hold 40 women in Kilworth, Co Cork.

“The reason for overcrowding in the Dóchas Centre is that imprisonment is being used inappropriately, with large numbers detained on remand for short periods and relatively minor crimes,” Fr O’Riordan said.