Community work penalties up 40% after law change

THE COURTS are imposing more community-based penalties on criminals, rather than prison sentences, with the number of community service orders made last year increasing by 40 per cent.

Community service hours worked in lieu of time in prison also increased by 39 per cent during the period, according to the 2011 annual report of the Probation and Welfare Service.

It reveals the service dealt with 14,845 people in the community last year, with 8,135 new cases being referred to the service by the courts.

In the case of sex offenders released from prison after serving their sentences, the numbers being supervised by the Probation Service, at 173, was low. It suggests a very large number of them are not being supervised once they leave prison.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said he was particularly pleased at the increase in the use of community service.

“It can be seen that many probation interventions provide an opportunity for offenders to repair the harm done in their community by their offending behaviour.”

New legislation that came in last October, he said, meant that when judges are considering imposing a prison term of 12 months or less they must first examine the appropriateness of community service.

The measure was introduced in the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act, introduced in the context of worsening overcrowding in prisons.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust said the increase in the use of community service suggested the judiciary had “responded to the spirit” of the new legislation. But the director general of the trust, Liam Herrick, said he was “very concerned” the Fines Act 2010 had not been fully implemented more than two years after being enacted.

The act allows fines imposed by the courts to be taken at source from a person’s social welfare payments, for example. It would reduce the numbers of people being sent to prison because they had failed to pay a fine, he said.

Some 7,514 people were imprisoned for defaulting on fines last year and 4,470 in the first half of this year.