Meet the offenders cleaning canals in the West Midlands as an alternative to prison
Steve Warmer rests after collecting litter from alongside the canal. Photograph: Tom Pilston/The GuardianView image in fullscreenSteve Warmer rests after collecting litter from alongside the canal. It is a small part of the community payback scheme, which in total clocked up an estimated 5m hours across England and Wales in the last year.Community payback is not suitable for everyone but covers a wide range of adult offending and can be included as part of suspended sentences.
- ▪Steve Warmer rests after collecting litter from alongside the canal.
- ▪Photograph: Tom Pilston/The GuardianView image in fullscreenSteve Warmer rests after collecting litter from alongside the canal.
- ▪It is a small part of the community payback scheme, which in total clocked up an estimated 5m hours across England and Wales in the last year.Community payback is not suitable for everyone but covers a wide range of adult offending and can
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — World |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/07/offenders-cleaning-canals-west-midlands-prison-overcrowding |
| Publication time | Fri, 07 Aug 2026 06:00:10 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-07T06:15:42.707Z |
| Last seen | 2026-08-07T06:15:42.707Z |
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Steve Warmer rests after collecting litter from alongside the canal. Photograph: Tom Pilston/The GuardianView image in fullscreenSteve Warmer rests after collecting litter from alongside the canal. Photograph: Tom Pilston/The GuardianPrisons and probationMeet the offenders cleaning canals in the West Midlands as an alternative to prisonWith the debate over prison overcrowding and what to do about it raging, one initiative offers an alternative solutionTom Pilston and Haroon SiddiqueFri 7 Aug 2026 02.00 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleAs the prison overcrowding crisis shows no sign of abating and the debate rages over early releases, an initiative in the West Midlands offers an alternative to custodial sentences.The Guardian was offered rare access to the project, under which, instead…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Guardian — World.
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