A group of offenders have improved access to an equine centre at an animal sanctuary as part of community sentencing.

Thornberry Animal Sanctuary’s equine and large breed site in Rotherham has a new car park and fencing thanks to the work of the offenders who spent several weeks clearing the site before laying a new surface and rebuilding fencing.

The offenders completed the work as part of court-ordered Community Payback, a form of unpaid work which punishes offenders while making them give back to communities they’ve harmed.   

This unpaid work not only supports vital local organisations but also teaches offenders valuable technical skills to help them secure employment and leave crime behind. 

The site before the work took place.

Giving something back

Thornberry Animal Sanctuary is one of the largest animal rescue centres in South Yorkshire and provides care and rehoming for hundreds of dogs, cats, horses, donkeys and rabbits each year.  

“The site for the new car park was originally a field full of boulders and large stones, making it unusable for horses. The team have cleared the whole area,” said Maxine Barclay, equine assistant at the sanctuary.

“The offenders say that they enjoy giving something back. It’s not just about helping us, but it’s also helping them as well, so hopefully they can take something from this and use it going forward.”  

The new car park.

Reducing reoffending

Community Payback helps individuals establish a working-day routine, which can help to reduce reoffending. 

Research shows that over 60% of people sentenced to prison for under a year reoffend within 12 months. 

Offenders who serve prison sentences of less than a year are more likely to commit further crimes than similar offenders given community sentences instead. The reason for this is that offenders undertaking sentences in the community can maintain family connections, jobs and housing.

“The team are doing strenuous manual work for a full seven hours in the day,” said James Shaw, unpaid work operations manager. 

“The evidence shows that people who are sentenced to community sentences, particularly with unpaid work, are less likely to reoffend in the future than those who have short-term prison sentences.”  

Some of the sanctuary’s residents.

Sentencing reforms

The expansion of punishments outside of prison, like community sentences, is one part of wider landmark sentencing reforms to ensure prisons never run out of space again.   

This is part of the government’s Plan for Change to make streets safer, which also includes the government building 14,000 new prison places and increasing investment into probation by around 45% by 2028.   

Images © Ministry of Justice/Thornberry Animal Sanctuary.

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