Britain Imprison 100 Children For Their Mother's Crime

                       A woman with her child in prison



AROUND 100 babies were locked up in prisons last year, new figures reveal.

The shock statistic is said to have spurred David Cameron into demanding an urgent review of the justice system.

The PM is expected to call for urgent rethink of the “absolutely terrible” fate of infants spending time behind bars as their mothers serve their jail terms.

Tomorrow he is set to outline a pilot scheme which could seenon-violent criminals, including new mothers, fitted with tracking devices and released.

In a major speech on Monday, Mr Cameron will say: “It is absolutely terrible to think that some babies are spending the earliest months – even years – of their lives behind bars.

“Prison staff do their best to make these environments pleasant. Some units even have special sensory rooms, so that babies can see colours, sights and sound – even nature – that they wouldn’t ever otherwise see inside the grey walls of a jail.

Cameron will make a speech on justice reforms tomorrow  Reuters

“There are actually women in these prisons who were born in the same prison twenty years earlier, and then have ended up there later as criminals themselves.

“Think of the damage done to the life chances of these children. It’s time to think seriously about whether this is the right approach. We’ve got to break this cycle.”

Other proposals are to deal with new mothers in American-style “problem-solving courts”, where judges cab order offenders to attend treatment for drug addiction to tackle the underlying causes of criminal behaviour.

It is his latest intervention on social reform in his bid to tackle inequality, poverty and discrimination before he leaves office.

At present, when a pregnant woman gives birth behind bars she is usually transferred to the prison’s “mother and baby unit”. These units accommodate babies from birth to the age of 18 months.

In some circumstances it will still be best for the baby and mother to be accommodated in a traditional prison, Number 10 said.