The pilot for the voluntary chemical castration of sex offenders will be extended to 20 prisons in England, the justice secretary has said. Shabana Mahmood said she would expand a small pilot in south-west England to two regions,

Britain is considering mandating the use of chemical castration for sex offenders under an overhaul of the justice system aimed at freeing up more space in its overcrowded prisons. One of the first acts of the Labour government in July was to announce plans to release more prisoners early to tackle a crisis of overcrowding in jails which ministers said threatened a "total breakdown of law and order.