Jailed rioters send prison population to record high

THE prison population is at a record high, after the crackdown on rioters and a surge in bank holiday arrests.

- Michael Knowles

Some 88,350 people were behind bars yesterday, a rise of 116 from 88,234 a week ago and up 988 from 87,362 four weeks ago.

It surpasses the biggest total ever recorded, which was 88,336 at the end of February 2024 - and it is also the highest end-of-week figure since such data was first published in 2011.

England and Wales's prison population has been rising for three years, having dropped as low as 77,727 mid-pandemic in April 2021.