Release women prisoners

To Editor of i Dear Sirs, There is a much better short term solution for new Justice Minister, Shabana Mahmood, than being forced to "instigate a radical one-in, one-out emergency policy" ("i" 06.07.24) to tackle the Tories' prison overcrowding. There is a rising figure, currently over 3000, of women imprisoned in three separate jails. These are mostly mothers, wives, or single family breadwinners, whose punishment impacts even more on their children. 58% of prison sentences in 2022 were for less than six months duration. Why not a massive early release for women with non-violent offences, which could close at least one of the womens' prisons and convert it to a new jail for the new intake of male offenders. Yours faithfully, Wiktor Moszczynski