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”.