Judges would to be allowed once again to hand out longer prisoner terms to violent offenders under proposals unveiled by the Home Office today that reverse rules introduced only 18 months ago.

The Home Office proposals are an attempt to restore confidence in the criminal justice system following the outcry over the paedophile Craig Sweeney, who was told that he might be released after serving just five years of a life sentence for the kidnap and assault of a young girl.

Among those who criticised that sentence was John Reid, the Home Secretary.

Mr Reid said today that proposals contained in a consultation document would give judges in England and Wales more discretion to give offenders like Sweeney longer sentences. The document also claims that it will make sentences easier for the public to understand.

Critics said the Government was performing a U-turn on rules introduced by David Blunkett, the previous Home Secretary, which give offenders, apart from murderers, the right to an automatic discount on their sentence. The rules, contained in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, only came into force 18 months ago.

Ministers accept that the new proposals would require another 110 prison places but insist that the prison population would be stabilised by using fines and community sentences for less serious offenders.

The consultation paper sets out five options:

:: Use US-style phraseology such as "25 years to life", where the lower figure would be the minimum jail term served

:: The judge recommends to the Parole Board the minimum period to be served on the grounds of public protection, as well as setting a minimum term for punishment

:: A variation of Option 2, which involves a detailed risk assessment being carried out rather than relying on solely a judge’s input

:: Allow judges to impose "additional years" on an offender, depending how dangerous they are

:: Removing the judge’s duty to halve a sentence in cases where there is an exceptionally high seriousness test, such as offenders who target children, who have previous convictions, are motivated by political, religious or ideological causes or are repeat offenders with aggravating factors such as premeditation or sadism.

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