UK justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised to over-rule new sentencing guidelines that appear to give people from ethnic minorities a lower chance of being sent to prison.
The updated guidance from the independent Sentencing Council says that a pre-sentence report on an offender’s background will normally be considered if they are from an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups, including pregnant and postnatal women and young adults aged 18-25. The guidelines are set to come into force on April 1.
Conservative MP Robert Jenrick, shadow justice secretary, said the guidelines, published on Wednesday, amounted to a “two-tier” approach and accused the justice secretary of enshrining a “double standard” to sentencing.
However, a Ministry of Justice source described Mahmood as “incandescent” when she was made aware of the Sentencing Council’s guidance. Mahmood said the guidelines “do not represent my views or the views of this government”.
She added: “I will be writing to the Sentencing Council to register my displeasure and recommend reversing this change to guidance.
“As someone who is from an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law, for anyone of any kind. There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch.”
The accusation of two-tier justice has been particularly sensitive for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s administration after last summer’s anti-immigration riots, during which some people were jailed for social media posts.
Lord Justice William Davis, chair of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, said: “The guideline emphasises the crucial role played by pre-sentence reports (PSRs) in this process and identifies particular cohorts for whom evidence suggests PSRs might be of particular value to the court.
“The reasons for including groups vary but include evidence of disparities in sentencing outcomes, disadvantages faced within the criminal justice system and complexities in circumstances of individual offenders that can only be understood through an assessment.”