RADICAL proposals to tackle the lottery of sentencing in the courts were today unveiled by shadow home secretary Jack Straw.

Open ended sentences for rapists and measures to tackle prisoners with mental problems to stop them re-offending were among the plans announced to bring back public confidence in the system.

Mr Straw, the MP for Blackburn, said action was needed to tackle the "extraordinary" differences between penalties imposed by magistrates courts in different parts of the country.

In Blackburn five per cent of people appearing before magistrates for more serious criminal offences get immediate custody - less than half the figure than in Oldham. The national average is 7.4 per cent.

"The more one goes into the figures the more one is left with the sense that chance plays more of a part than it should," said Mr Straw. Lack of information about defendant's previous convictions and different attitudes from lawyers and magistrates to particular offences were partly to blame for sentencing inconsistencies .

And Mr Straw said the current system of parole was confusing to the public.

"The public deserve to know what sentences mean. The current system is confusing since it is not clear what length of sentence a prisoner given will actually serve," said Mr Straw.

"The court should announce the minimum time to be served with parole, the minimum without parole,the maximum and the earliest date of release."

Offenders who commit serious sexual offences for a second time were also high on the agenda for change.

Mr Straw said that a reviewable sentence would help ensure dangerous prisoners were not allowed back into the community.

The sentence would be reviewed every two years by the parole board with no minimum period of detention.

The proposals also call for defence lawyers to be no longer able to question rape victinms about their past sexual history unless it is relevant to the case.

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