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Criminals in the community

How Britain pioneered an alternative to prison copied around the world. In the 1970s, England and Wales were the first to introduce Community Service as a sentence for convicted criminals. It was part of penal reforms intended to reduce the prison population. Witness History speaks to John Harding, a former Chief Probation Officer, who was in charge of the introduction of Community Service in one of the first pilot schemes.

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4 minutes