As rioters fill overcrowded prisons, UK turns to police cells

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will use an emergency measure to detain suspected criminals in police station cells until it can find space for them in its overcrowded prisons after police arrested hundreds over widespread rioting this month.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government said on Monday the arrests of more than 1,100 suspects over the racist violence aimed at migrants and Muslims had worsened a prison capacity crisis, which has already forced ministers to say they will allow jails to release more prisoners early.

The new, temporary measure will mean suspects will be summoned to court only when it is confirmed that a cell is available in one of the more than 100 prisons across the country. Until then they will be held in a police station.

"We inherited a justice system in crisis and exposed to shocks," prisons minister James Timpson said in a statement. "As a result, we have been forced into making difficult but necessary decisions to keep it operating."

Overcrowded prisons have presented Starmer, who took office last month, with an early crisis, leaving his government with unpalatable and costly choices.

Britain has western Europe's highest rate of incarceration and prisoner numbers have risen sharply since the pandemic, due to longer sentences, court delays and a requirement for serious offenders to serve at least 65% of their sentences behind bars.

Under plans announced by Starmer last month, most prisoners will become eligible for release after serving 40% of their sentences behind bars, down from 50% previously.

Monday's measures are expected to tackle lower prison capacity in the north of England, a region affected by the recent rioting, which followed misinformation that the suspect in the murder of three young girls was an Islamist migrant.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Kate Holton)