Number of criminals sent to prison in South Yorkshire hits 10-year high following Rotherham riots

Custodial sentences in South Yorkshire reached their highest level in nearly a decade in 2024, according to new figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

A total of 2,552 individuals received immediate prison terms, up by 130 from 2,422 in the previous year and marking the highest number since 2015.

Nationally, 79,812 offenders across England and Wales were given immediate custodial sentences last year—an 11 per cent increase compared to 2023.

The rise has been partly attributed to public disorder following the Southport killings in July, which in Rotherham led to an anti-immigration protest outside the Manvers Way Holiday Inn Express hotel that descended into a riot.

By the end of 2024, 912 people had been prosecuted for offences linked to the disturbances, including more than 85 prison sentences handed out in South Yorkshire totalling over 213 years.

It comes as prisons in England and Wales have been described as facing “crisis” over over-population, and a report by OpenDemocracy in May 2024 described UK prisons as “dirty, dangerous and failing,” with more than half of inmates saying they feel “unsafe.”

In March 2025, a Sheffield judge remarked to a man during sentencing that “[prisons are] very unpleasant for those serving sentences at the moment.”

The latest published prison population statistics show there are only just over 1,000 spaces left in men’s prisons, prompting former justice secretary David Gauke to release his Independent Sentencing Review (ISR) earlier than expected.

In the last month, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has recommended an overhaul of the prisons systems with proposals to cut the prison population by 9,800 people, mainly be changing a prisoner’s release date “to be more dependent on their behaviour” and reward taking part in education and work.

Ms Mahmood told the Commons: “If they follow prison rules, they will earn earlier release. If they do not, they will be locked up for longer."

Campaign groups have criticised the plans for offering less time in prison to serious offenders.

More than 100 people have so far been charged over the riot at the Manvers Way hotel on August 4, 2024, when more than 50 officers were injured when an anti-immigration protest escalated into a riot attended by over 450 people on August 4, 2024.