Letter: Don't blame probation for criminals prison has failed to reform

Sir: The blame for probationers committing a "murder a week" (report, 2 July) cannot be placed entirely at the door of the probation service.

Of the probationers charged with serious offences, 90 were on parole. They had therefore gone through the prison system without being reformed. Prisons in this country are already massively overcrowded and prison officers have little time spare to work on rehabilitation.

It would be simplistic to propose that a shift of offenders from probation to prison will solve this problem. We need to ensure that courts sentence serious offenders to prisons with resources to rehabilitate them properly and send other offenders to the cheaper, and often more effective, probation service.

IMOGEN CATERER

Gloucester