Prison reformer on Island jail figures

Many of those currently being held in the Isle of Man's prison should not be serving jail terms, according to the Deputy Director of the Prison Reform Trust.

Geoff Dobson says a distinction should be made between persistant offenders, jailed for petty crimes, and serious and violent criminals, who need to be locked up.

His comments came after it was revealed more than 25 per cent of the prison population on October 1 had been in custody five times or more.

Mr Dobson says there are often more effective ways to cut-down on re-offending (audio file attached):

Geoff Dobson was speaking to Dan Davies on Manx Radio's Talking Heads.