Judges say it could mean a convicted sex attacker serving as little as 15 months in prison.
Ministers argue that encouraging an early guilty plea will spare victims the ordeal of giving evidence in court and increase the six per cent conviction rate for rape.
The reform, which ignited a new row over ‘soft justice’, will also apply to burglars, robbers and other serious criminals.
It is part of the Government’s controversial sentencing overhaul which will see the number of prison places slashed by thousands.
The police and the Ministry of Justice are trying to reduce their budgets by hundreds of millions of pounds each, and encouraging an early guilty plea will save court and case preparation costs by reducing the number of cases which go to trial.But victims’ groups say the move ‘places administrative efficiency over justice’.
Currently, the maximum discount for admitting guilt at the first possible opportunity is a third. Under the new plan this will be increased to 50 per cent.
There was anger as this was confirmed to MPs. Prisons minister Crispin Blunt was asked to justify the decision to rape victims. Former home secretary Jack Straw said: ‘How on earth will giving a half off a sentence help to protect the public?’Mr Blunt replied: ‘I would have thought that a moment’s reflection would make that clear. If someone at the first opportunity when accused of rape, rather than putting than putting their victim through the entire process of having to give evidence, if they co-operate with the authorities from the first opportunity, I think that is one example where there is a definitive benefit to the victim of encouraging the earliest possible guilty plea.’
Labour’s justice spokesman Sadiq Khan asked Justice Secretary Ken Clarke to ‘reconsider’ the discount before the publication of the Government’s final proposals on sentencing, which are expected shortly.He said: ‘It’s not simply Labour MPs who think this is nonsense, it’s not simply judges, it’s not simply victims’ groups, his own Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses says this is bonkers.’
But Mr Clarke said: ‘That proposal, I think, is likely to survive.’
The Council of Circuit Judges, which represents 652 Crown Court judges, warned that under the proposals a rapist who would have otherwise received a five-year sentence might serve as little as 15 months.
The judges said that an offender who admits rape faces a starting point of five years, or 60 months, in custody.
Under the new system, an early guilty plea would reduce this to 30 months and he would be released on licence after 15 months.
They added: ‘If the defendant had been in custody awaiting trial, the victim may see him on the streets only weeks after he appeared in court.’
Rape has one of the lowest conviction rates for any crime at 6 six per cent. Scores of cases collapse because women cannot face coming face to face with their attacker in court.
Louise Casey, the Commissioner for Victims, said: ‘A discount of 50 per cent offends many victims, underplays the harm that may have been caused and can seem to be placing administrative efficiency over justice.
‘I am concerned that the proposal to increase the maximum discount will not achieve its intention of getting more people to plead guilty, while alienating victims further and placing administration above justice.’
The Government’s sentencing Green Paper contains a range of other proposals which were denounced for being ‘soft’ on crime.Most controversially, the Government is abandoning the long-standing Tory view that ‘prison works’.
The courts will be encouraged to hand out tough community punishments instead of shorter jail terms so that 6,000 fewer prison places will be needed by 2015 than predicted.
Ministers also want a relaxing of the rules for prisoners handed indefinite jail terms to make it easier for them to be released.
Only those who pose a ‘very serious risk’ will stay inside.
A string of Tory pre-election promises have been ditched, including a pledge to jail all knife offenders.
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