Jail ‘costly way’ of making vulnerable women worse off

Prison is often a “very expensive way” of making the lives of vulnerable women worse, the inspector of prisons has said.

Judge Michael Reilly’s comments come as new figures show record numbers of women are being jailed — more than doubling from 923 in 2001 to 1,902 in 2011.

The overcrowding crisis in the country’s two women’s jails is forcing management to release almost half of inmates early.