The prisons overcrowding crisis has erupted into a major political row after an internet paedophile was spared jail partly as a result of Home Secretary John Reid's plea to judges to use prison sparingly.
The Conservatives said the Government's failure to address the lack of prison places was "coming home to roost" while the Liberal Democrats claimed the criminal justice system was "in total decay". However, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said the judge had been applying sentencing guidelines.
Mold Crown Court heard Derek Williams, 46, would only receive a suspended jail term because the judge had to "bear in mind" the Home Secretary's letter.
The pervert had downloaded dozens of pornographic images of children on to his computer.
Sentencing Williams, of Penygwdwn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, to a six-month sentence suspended for two years, Judge John Rogers QC said he had to bear in mind "the current sentencing climate". But he added there were also mitigating factors in the case.
Williams was also placed on supervision and ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for the next seven years.
This week, Mr Reid and other Cabinet ministers wrote to judges and magistrates asking them to imprison only the most dangerous and persistent criminals.
The new controversy came as Mr Reid announced the latest emergency measures to deal with the crisis. Jails in England and Wales are at bursting point, with about 80,000 inmates. Hundreds are being housed overnight in police stations and court cells because there is no room in jails.
Mr Reid revealed an RAF camp in the north of England is to be used to house convicts, and he is also in negotiations over the purchase of two prison ships. Construction has also started on prefab units to go into a prison in Merseyside.
Shadow home secretary David Davis said of the sentencing: "If true, then we now have a situation where sentences are being dictated by the prison capacity and not the severity of the crime. It looks like the consequences of the Government's failure to address the lack of prison places is coming home to roost."
