David Lammy’s report: minorities more likely to go to prison than white defendants

Emerging findings of David Lammy’s report into the criminal justice system shows minority defendants are more likely to receive prison time.

For every 100 white women given prison sentences for drug offences, 227 black women go to prison; for every 100 white men, 141 black men receive prison time. The number of Muslim prisoners has doubled in the last decade, and young offenders from minority backgrounds make up 41 per cent of prisoners. This is up from 25 per cent a decade ago, and comes alongside an overall drop in youth offenders imprisoned by 66 per cent.

Lammy, MP for Tottenham, is leading a review of the criminal justice system in England and Wales into possible bias against BME people, which began in January at the former Prime Minister David Cameron’s request. It has also been announced that he has accepted justice secretary Liz Truss’s invitation to broaden his review to examine judicial ethnic diversity. There is only 6 per cent of court judges from minority backgrounds at present.

Half the UK born black and minority ethnic (BME) population believe that the justice system discriminates against certain groups, whereas only 35 per cent of the white population agree.

Young black men are around 56 per cent more likely than their white counterparts to be tried at a crown court, BME men are 16 per cent more likely to be remanded in custody and are 52 per cent more likely to plead “not guilty” at crown court.

Lammy commented on the findings saying: “These emerging findings raise difficult questions about whether ethnic minority communities are getting a fair deal in our justice system.

“We need to fully understand why, for example, ethnic minority defendants are more likely to receive prison sentences than white defendants.

“These are complex issues and I will dig deeper to in the coming months to establish whether bias is a factor.

“I look forward to presenting my final report and recommendations to the Prime Minister next year.”