PLANS to double the length of jail sentences that magistrates can hand out are “a knee-jerk reaction” and will worsen the prisons overcrowding crisis, lawyers warned today.

The government is considering giving magistrates the power to pass sentences of up to one year, twice the length of jail term they can currently hand down, in a bid to reduce the number of prisoners held on remand, according to reports.

About a fifth of the prison population are suspects being held on remand, and a third will either go on to be cleared and released or will not receive a jail term.