Homeless ‘too often sent to prison’

Judges are sending people to jail without knowing what goes on there or how the experience will affect them, a leading social justice campaigner has claimed.

Fr Peter McVerry said prison discriminated against the homeless and mentally ill and damaged inmates’ prospects of ever positively contributing to society.

He told a conference hosted by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Law Society of Ireland that imprisonment should be reserved for the most serious crimes, mainly those involving violence.