Leeds locals reflect on the cost of jailing inmates short-term

With short-term jail sentences costing £50,000 per inmate, is it time for more lenient jail terms or are we too soft on offenders?

Transcript

00:00 I think the prison is there for a reason.

00:04 I believe in punishment, because some people, they go round and round,

00:08 they go in, they come out, they go in, they come out.

00:10 But I think there should be a strict structure within the prisons.

00:15 I don't understand why it has to cost that much.

00:17 Are they feeding them curry or something? I don't know.

00:21 I think it would be good if some of the funding was put into preventative measures

00:25 at a much earlier stage, before we reach the prison stage.

00:29 Unfortunately, we do have the prison system, and for some I think it's necessary.

00:33 However, I think there is a real amount of poverty and underfunding

00:40 in terms of intervention much earlier.

00:41 I tend to think we should put more money into prevention,

00:44 rather than just punishing individuals and locking people up for misdemeanours.

00:50 I think in crimes generally, everyone should be punished,

00:53 not equally, but everyone should have their time, if that makes sense.