NOBODY would argue with the Archbishop of Canterbury that having fewer criminals locked in prison would be a good thing.

It would certainly be better for the taxpayers who would not have to pay to keep the prisoners there.

Dr George Carey advocates other forms of correction rather than prison. These already exist in the forms of probation orders, community service and suspended sentences. Judges tend to use these, where possible, and only dole out prison sentences as a last resort.

But there are some criminals who refuse to take advantages of these sentencing options and continue to re-offend and, as Dr Carey says: "..shuffle in and out of the prison system".

However, we agree with Dr Carey about the injustice of keeping defendants in custody for long periods on remand.

Prisoners should be brought to trial quickly and it is essential that there are enough courts to make this possible.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.