THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE criticised ever-lengthening jail sentences yesterday, which he said could in the future be regarded just as shocking as the noose and the whip.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers said that decisions by politicians and judges on sentencing were being affected by an atmosphere encouraging retribution on offenders.

He criticised parts of the media for whipping up a desire among the public for vengeance against criminals.

Politicians, the judges and public are being affected by media criticism, which makes light of prison sentences, the Lord Chief Justice said.

He said that a five-year jail term was a very weighty punishment but “some elements of the media are inclined . . . to speak of defendants being permitted to ‘walk free’ after only five years inside”.

The Lord Chief Justice, giving a lecture in Oxford, said: “That is not to say that I do not recognise that there are certain crimes which require a sentence of that length or longer to protect the public, but I detect on the part of such publications an incitement to the public to exact vengeance from offenders not dissimilar from the emotions of those who thronged to public executions in the 18th century.”

He criticised sections of the media for failing to explain the judge’s reasoning for handing down particular sentences.“Such is the atmosphere that sentencers are criticised for failing to lock offenders up for longer, but without examination as to the explanation given by the judge or the statutory framework in which it was imposed. Media pressure such as this cannot fail to have an effect on the public, on politicians and on judges.”

His speech outlined the history of British punishments, including practices now considered “utterly barbaric”, such as flogging and the scold’s bridle.He then added: “I sometimes wonder whether, in a hundred years’ time, people will be as shocked by the length of the sentences we are imposing as we are by some punishments of the 18th century.”

He said: “Some of the media, and some sentencers, are sceptical as to whether community sentences provide adequate punishment and whether they are any more effective in preventing reoffending than imprisonment.

“They are not a panacea, but I believe they offer a better chance of preventing reoffending than short spells of imprisonment and can leave room in the prisons for effective intervention for those whose crimes require detention.”

The Lord Chief Justice said that the prison population was made up largely of people who had been socially deprived, and tackling this could reduce the prison population. He highlighted the lack of skills, homelessness, drug addiction and mental-health problems of many of those in jail. Half of all prisoners were at or below the reading level of an 11-year-old, nearly half were excluded from school and most had no qualifications. One in four men and one in three women admitted to heroin or crack cocaine use and 72 per cent of men had two or more mental disorders.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said that the Lord Chief Justice was wrong to say that community sentences offered a better chance to prevent reoffending.

Mr Davis said: “Ninety one per cent of young people on the Government’s ISP scheme reoffend within two years.”

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: “The Lord Chief Justice and his colleagues in the judiciary are partly responsible for the crisis in our criminal justice system. It is because of their obsession with prison alternatives that many criminals see community sentences as a licence to reoffend. Soft sentences on criminals means tough sentencing on their victims and does little to reassure the frightened British public.”

• The Government suffered a defeat last night when the Lords voted, by a majority of 113, to retain the independent prisons inspectorate which ministers want to merge into a new Inspectorate for Justice, Community Safety and Custody.

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