THOUSANDS of criminals including burglars and thieves will serve less time in prison under new guidelines that urge courts to cut jail terms by 15 per cent.

The change means that a non-violent and non-sexual offender sentenced to six years will spend one year and five months less in jail.

The guidance — issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council, headed by Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice — led last night to accusations that the public was being deceived by the Government and the legal establishment.

Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Attorney-General, condemmed the new regime, which came into force this month, as a “deceit on the public”. He said: “Once again the public is being hoodwinked because prisoners will not serve sentences that bear any relations to the penalty imposed.”

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: “The fact is that prison works. People say it is a ‘university of crime’, but while inside they cannot be at the open university of life, down at the bar or club deciding to do a burglary that night.”

Despite the shorter time that many criminals will spend in jail, the Sentencing Guidelines Council said that the new regime was harsher than its predecessor because criminals serving 12 months or more will be supervised after leaving jail halfway through their sentence. Previously, many were released without supervision.

The new penalties came into force this month, but the full effects will be noticed only in the coming weeks as cases go through the courts.

Judges should make allowance for “more demanding” early-release conditions and reduce sentence length by 15 per cent, the council said.

The overhaul of sentencing — the biggest for a decade — will mean tougher sentences for violent, sexual and dangerous offenders, while non-violent criminals jailed for 12 months or more are released automatically at the halfway stage. They will serve the rest of their sentence under supervision.

Under the old regime, prisoners serving four years or more were automatically released at the two-thirds point of the sentence and supervised until the three-quarter point.

An offender given six years under the old system would be automatically released after four years and would be under supervision in the community for a further six months. Under the new system, the same offender would be given about five years and two months — the 15 per cent cut — and be released from jail automatically after serving two years and seven months. He would spend the rest of the sentence under supervision or on licence.

The terms of the licence are intended to be much tougher than under the old sentencing regime.

The new framework covers a large range of offences such as theft, burglary, drug-dealing, some assaults, immigration offences and fraud.

Mathew Gullick, a barrister, said that the impact of the new sentences and guidelines would be much greater for criminals given longer jail terms. Many non-violent and non-dangerous offenders would also benefit by the extension of early release under home detention curfew. At present early release under the scheme is restricted to those serving less than four years.

He said that this could cut a further 135 days off sentences.

The 12-strong Sentencing Guidelines Council comprises eight judges and four lay members. It is chaired by Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, and among its lay members is a chief constable, a member of Victim Support and Ken Macdonald, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Under the new sentencing regime, offenders convicted of dangerous, violent and sexual offences face tougher penalties.

The court will decide if an offender convicted of a sexual or violent offence is a danger to the public. If the offence has a maximum penalty of ten years or more, the offender will be given an “indeterminate sentence for public protection” under which they can be released only when the Parole Board believes that they are no longer a risk to the public.

Dangerous offenders convicted of less sexual or violent crimes such as actual bodily harm will be sentenced to an extended jail term plus eight years on licence after release. Again, they will be released only if the Parole Board believes that they are no longer a risk to the public.

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