There has been a significant increase in the number of women being sent to jail in recent years, leading to major problems with overcrowding.

Around 80 per cent of women are sent to prison for non-violent crimes, the vast majority of whom are in prison for not paying a fine.

Herrick echoed the comments by the prison’s governor Mary O’Connor who said that many of the women shouldn’t be in prison and instead needed help with issues of homelessness, addiction and mental health problems, which were not available in the prison.

“The clear problem here is a problem about homelessness and drug residential care,” said Herrick. “The problem is women are going into jail for respite from problems in the community that should be addressed on that side of the prison wall”.