Criminals who refuse to attend sentencing face losing prison privileges under new rules

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Abdul, G. (2026, October 22). Criminals who refuse to attend sentencing face losing prison privileges under new rules. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/oct/22/criminals-who-refuse-to-attend-sentencing-could-lose-prison-privileges-under-new-rules

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-22 · by Geneva Abdul

Quick Summary

England and Wales will implement new rules granting judges broader powers to impose sanctions on criminals who refuse to attend their sentencing hearings. Starting next year, offenders can lose privileges or face up to 21 days in solitary confinement for failing to appear. The prisons minister, Catherine McKinnell, stated that these measures ensure offenders cannot avoid facing justice and insult victims' families. Younger offenders may have restrictions for up to 21 days as well, though visits from children are exempted to preserve family ties.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-22, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Labour is bringing in new measures to punish criminals who refuse to attend court for their sentencing. The Ministry of Justice, which first announced these plans last year, says judges will have the power to impose additional penalties such as solitary confinement and restrictions on prison privileges for up to 12 weeks. For example, offenders could be confined to their cells for three weeks or lose social visits for 27 days. Prisoners aged 18 to 20 in young offender institutions face shorter punishments: ten days of cell confinement and a loss of privileges for 21 days. The rules are set to come into effect next year after being laid before parliament on Thursday, aiming to make the initial weeks in jail less comfortable for those who refuse to face justice.

Written for “Refusing Prisoners Face Loss Of Privileges” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 98554: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-22

Story

📰 Refusing Prisoners Face Loss Of Privileges
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 23% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Cowardly killers who refuse to come to dock for sentencing face being locked in cell for three weeks and month-long ban on visits under new powers same event · 95%
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 18% hedged 5 of 28 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles discuss the same upcoming changes in England and Wales regarding penalties for criminals who refuse to attend sentencing hearings.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
23%
3 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2261 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
2026-10-19
Mother assessed as posing no immediate risk to others three weeks before Elizabeth Struhs’ manslaughter, inquest hears
2026-10-14
Rachel Smith will turn 39 in prison. The high court says she could freeze her eggs from behind bars
2026-10-03
Tennessee’s top prison official resigning after botched execution of Christa Pike
2026-10-01
Tennessee governor suspends all executions after Christa Pike’s lethal injections fail
2026-09-28
Extra 1,000 prison beds announced in NSW as union warns against arresting ‘our way out of domestic violence’
2026-09-05
Australia’s housing prices are trending down. See which suburbs have had the biggest falls

Who wrote this

Geneva Abdul
3 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Offenders who refuse to face their victims’ families in court for sentencing could be stripped of privileges or kept in cells for weeks under government changes granting wider powers to judges in England and Wales.
2026-10-22 · mixed framing · Criminals who refuse to attend sentencing face losing prison privileges under new rules
🔮 The study found that ethnic minority Britons would like to see more effort to promote equal pay and tackle disparities in essential services and unequal treatment in media reporting.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · Britons of all ethnicities feel racial equality is worsening, study shows
🔮 The sanctions were announced after escalating attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the West Bank and an Israeli tender was issued for 1,200 homes in the E1 settlement, east of Jerusalem, which could in effect cut off the north from the south of the West Bank, threatening the viability of any future Palestinian state.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · UK sanctions on Israel ‘fall far short’ of its obligations, legal experts say
Also by Geneva Abdul
Britons of all ethnicities feel racial equality is worsening, study shows
2026-09-15 · The Guardian
UK sanctions on Israel ‘fall far short’ of its obligations, legal experts say
2026-09-15 · The Guardian
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

England MoJ. The Ministry of Justice Wales

Subjects

England GPE · 3× Wales GPE · 3× Catherine McKinnell PERSON · 1× Claire Waxman PERSON · 1× Jan Mustafa PERSON · 1× MoJ. ORG · 1× Sabina Nessa PERSON · 1× The Ministry of Justice ORG · 1× Waxman PERSON · 1× Zara Aleena PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The new rules, to be laid before parliament on Thursday, will grant judges new powers to impose a loss of prison privileges for 84 days, cell confinement for 21 days, a loss of social visits for 27 days and a restriction on visits to once every four weeks, for 84 days.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-22
🔮 Offenders who refuse to face their victims’ families in court for sentencing could be stripped of privileges or kept in cells for weeks under government changes granting wider powers to judges in England and Wales.
2026-10-22 · The Guardian
Criminals who refuse to attend sentencing face losing prison privileges under new rules · mixed framing

Claims (13 extracted, 3 hedged)

Offenders who refuse to face their victims’ families in court for sentencing could be stripped of privileges or kept in cells for weeks under government changes granting wider powers to judges in England and Wales. uncertain
who → refuse → England
The imposition of new prison sanctions, coming into effect next year, builds on existing laws that order offenders to attend sentencing or face a fine or be jailed for a further two years for contempt of court. asserted
that → come → court
“Criminals should not be able to pick and choose when they face justice. asserted
they → pick → justice
Refusing to turn up to sentencing is an insult to victims and their families, and offenders must face the consequences,” said the prisons minister, Catherine McKinnell. asserted
minister → refuse → consequences
The new rules, to be laid before parliament on Thursday, will grant judges new powers to impose a loss of prison privileges for 84 days, cell confinement for 21 days, a loss of social visits for 27 days and a restriction on visits to once every four weeks, for 84 days. asserted
rules → lay → days
They could result in offenders already facing decades behind bars facing additional punishments. uncertain
offenders → result → punishments
The Ministry of Justice has said that while no measure can guarantee offenders will attend their sentencing hearing, the widened powers strengthen the consequences for offenders and ensure they can be “appropriately punished”. asserted
they → say → offenders
Younger offenders aged 18 to 20 could have privileges removed for up to 21 days or be confined to cells for up to 10 days, said the MoJ. uncertain
MoJ. → age → days
Visitors from prisoners’ children will be exempt, to help maintain family ties and when in the child’s best interests. asserted
Visitors → help → interests
Claire Waxman, the victim’s commissioner for England and Wales, who has worked with relatives of the murder victims Sabina Nessa, Zara Aleena and Jan Mustafa, said the announcement reflected the “tireless efforts” of victims’ families. asserted
announcement → work → families
“I know how offenders’ refusal to attend sentencing hearings compounds trauma and robs families of one of the very few moments of accountability in the justice process,” said Waxman. asserted
Waxman → know → process
“It is now essential that these powers are used consistently by courts and prisons, so families receive the justice and accountability they deserve.” asserted
they → use → justice
The move comes after nearly 2,000 prisoners across England and Wales were released from prison this month as part of a government plan to ease prison overcrowding. asserted
prisoners → come → overcrowding
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 22 Oct 2026