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Prisons and Probation

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord, as always. One of the explanations for this seeming paradox, as I said earlier, is that sentence lengths for most offence groups have increased. Some would say that for some offences that is not a bad thing. I seem to remember that there were cases of causing death by dangerous driving where two years’ imprisonment seemed ridiculously short for the seriousness of the offence. There was also a lacuna in the law as regards causing death by careless driving because for serious offending the court could pass only an insufficient sentence. If the noble and learned Lord is saying to me that there are examples where sentences have been extended more than they ought to have been, I am sure that he is right. However, in some instances it has been necessary to change the law and allow for extra sentencing when judges believe that to be appropriate.