Britain considering chemical castration for sex offenders under prison reforms

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is considering mandating the use of chemical castration for sex offenders under an overhaul of the justice system aimed at freeing up more space in its overcrowded prisons.

One of the first acts of the Labour government in July was to announce plans to release more prisoners early to tackle a crisis of overcrowding in jails which ministers said threatened a "total breakdown of law and order."

The prison population in England and Wales then reached a record high in September, and earlier this year the government said police cells would be used temporarily to hold prisoners as an emergency stopgap measure to cope with overcrowding in prison.

Announcing the findings of a review into how to tackle the crisis, justice minister Shabana Mahmood said it had recommended continuing a pilot of so-called "medication to manage problematic sexual arousal."

"I am exploring whether mandating the approach is possible," she told lawmakers.

Options include pharmaceuticals that suppress libido and those that reduce sexual thoughts, the review said.

The Independent Sentencing Review said there was an overreliance on custody, and that more should be invested in the Probation Service, with greater electronic monitoring and a supervision system to reduce reoffending.

The review also proposed a system where offenders can earn earlier release through good behaviour and compliance with prison rules, and said custodial sentences of less than a year should only be used in exceptional circumstances.

The government said it would accept these recommendations but would not proceed with a recommended maximum sentences, meaning the worst offenders could spend longer in prison.

David Gauke, the former Conservative justice minister who chaired the review, said the government could not simply build more prisons to end overcrowding, and more radical reform was needed.

"To stabilise the prison system and end the dangerous cycle of emergency releases the government must take decisive action," Gauke said in a statement.

"Taken as a package, these measures should ensure the government is never again in a position where it is forced to rely on the emergency release of prisoners," he added.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and William James; Editing by Conor Humphries)