Centre for Mental Health

Stop wasting money on short prison sentences, say mental health charities

2 April 2010

Two leading mental health charities have joined forces to call for offenders with mental health problems to be treated in the community rather than sent to prison.

Rethink and Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health have called on all political parties to recognise that imprisoning offenders with mental health problems on short sentences is a poor use of taxpayers' money.

At a time when the public purse is under pressure, these funds could be better spent on 'diversion' programmes where offenders are helped to access community support programmes rather than locked up in overcrowded prisons.

Diversion Dividend, a report produced by the two charities, finds that such diversion techniques would be hugely beneficial to the government and taxpayer by saving money in the justice system and reducing reoffending rates. Individuals and their families also benefit from diversion if it gets them access to health services and other sources of support to get their lives back on track.

Paul Jenkins, chief executive of mental health charity Rethink, said: "More than one in ten prisoners has a severe mental illness and most do not receive the help and treatment that they need. It's not rocket science – providing the right support to offenders early on would save money in the long run. We could spend far less on appropriate community support than on prison places. At the same time, we would reduce reoffending rates which are often sustained as a result of mental illness. It is a win-win situation for politicians and society, and the government elected in May must act on this or face the wrath of taxpayers who are angry at the continued waste of resources."

Sean Duggan, joint chief executive of Sainsbury Centre, said: "It should be possible to divert someone at any stage of the justice system to appropriate mental health treatment and support. Too often the services to achieve this are not in place. Lord Bradley's report and the government's plan to deliver it show the way forward by making diversion and liaison services available to all police stations and courts in England. Reinvesting resources in these teams is not just good for the health of vulnerable people. It makes sense to the taxpayer to use public money wisely to improve health and reduce offending."

Case study

Dawn Willis has bipolar disorder. A former police officer with no criminal history, Dawn became unwell and over the course of five years spent £28,000 on a bewildering array of items, including fax machines, toys, and expensive cigarettes, even though she doesn't smoke. She gave most things away. When she ran out of money, Dawn obtained credit cards and catalogues using false names. In 1997, Dawn was sentenced to six months in prison for deception.

Dawn feels that the criminal justice system failed to address her mental health at every stage.

"The worst part was being left without medication for the whole time I was in prison. When I arrived a doctor saw me for five minutes and decided to stop my medication saying 'you look fine to me, I don't think you need medication'. I was stunned that my prescription from the outside was not taken into account in any way and I was powerless to do anything about it. I was left feeling very vulnerable and scared as well as angry and depressed.

"A community sentence with a treatment order would have been much more appropriate. I would have received treatment for my mental health condition whilst serving my sentence and my family would not have been thrown into disarray. I wasn't a dangerous person who needed to be kept away from people and so the prison sentence achieved nothing for society. In prison I met many young people and women with mental health issues, who were there for minor crimes, and who could have benefited from treatment within the community, saving the Chancellor valuable money."