OUR prison system is failing to rehabilitate inmates and stop them re-offending, according to a Haverigg town councillor.
The warning comes as official projections suggest the prison population could rise to 90,000 in the next five years, sparking fears that the system is "buckling under the weight".
Numbers at HMP Haverigg were recently slashed from 654 to 268 after parts of the site were deemed not fit for purpose but cases of assault on staff and between inmates have all continued to rise.
Cllr Doug Wilson said: "My personal view is that prisons should be a place people never want to go back to.
"We accept there needs to be a rehabilitation aspect but we also need there to be a punishment and a deterrent for criminals.
"I think not enough prisoners regard it as a deterrent and the repeat offenders seem quite used to the regime inside.
"When we send these bad people to prison it protects the law abiding citizens."
As of last Friday there were 86,388 people behind bars in England and Wales which was up by more than 1,500 compared with 12 months earlier.
The projections were released just weeks after justice secretary David Lidington said he wanted to see prison numbers come down.
"We need better custody that cuts re-offending and crime and we need to ensure judges, magistrates and the public have full confidence in the other penalties available," he said.
Andrew Neilson, is the director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, the oldest charity of its type in the UK.
He said: “The number of people behind bars has more than doubled since Margaret Thatcher was in power, and our failed prison system is buckling under the weight.
“More people are dying by suicide than ever before, assaults and self-injury are at record levels, and re-offending rates remain stubbornly high.
“Building more prisons will not solve these problems; it will only cause them to grow and spill out into more towns and cities. The government must reduce demand on its jails if it wants to regain control of them.
“Bold but sensible action to reduce the prison population would better protect the public and prevent more people being swept into deeper currents of crime, violence and despair.”
Read more:
Shocking figures reveal violence and self-harm on the rise at HMP Haverigg
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