Prison numbers reach record high : book now, only 600 places remaining.
"Last year the Prison Reform Trust said tough sentencing by judges, rather than a rise in crime, had led to the record prison population. "
"It [almost??] emerged last year that the proportion of people in prison in England and Wales was the highest in the whole of western Europe.
Home Office figures showed that for every 100,000 people, some 139 are imprisoned - which is more than in Libya, Malaysia and Burma."
"In another illustration of this state of affairs, figures published last week showed that motorists who commit an offence are actually more likely than burglars to receive a prison sentence. In 2002, 10,178 burglars went to jail, compared with 15,039 motorists. Two-thirds of motorists were incarcerated for minor offences such as a non-payment of fines or careless driving."

Burglaries: becoming more common and more violent, here's some advice.