prison

[Kingaroo]

I am reading a novel set in 1960s England.  The main character assaults a rude shopkeeper and is sent to prison.

In the US, simple assault gets you time in county jail.  You don't go to state prison unless it's a bigger crime.

What's the system in England?

[KebabMeister]

System in the UK is:

1.  Main character assaults shopkeeper

2.  Shopkeeper man handles him and throws him out of shop

3.  Main character sues shopkeeper for discrimination and assault

4.  Shopkeeper forced to sell shop because he can't afford compensation costs

5.  Main character free to assault again!

Well, something like that!

[missoni]

There are different categories of prison/prisoner in the UK depending on nature of the crime and the length of the sentence. From Category A - for murderers and high risk prisoners, to Category D which is an open prison (usually for ex-politicians who wish to write novels in peace and quiet and pop out occasionally for a latte).   So they are all "prisons", but the regime and rules within each varies. 

[RevShirls]

The security categories didn't exist until the end of the 60s /start of the 70s. In the 1960s prisoners tended to be categorised by the length of sentence they were serving - so within one prison you could find one section with those on remand (awaiting trial), another with those serving short sentences, and another with those serving long-term or life sentences. This categorisation still exists but as well as this prisoners have security categories. Category A prisoners (high security risk/dangerous) are often kept in isolation (solitary cell) and apart from the general prison population. Category D prisoners are a low security risk. Often all these cateories of prisoners are kept in separate sections of the same prison (including catgory D categories). Only category D prisoners are eligible for open prison conditions and for work placements in the community.

It was the Mountbatten Report (1966) that changed the system and led to these categories. It was the escapes of George Blake, Ronald Biggs and others that led to Mountbatten's report. I studied criminology as well as psychology and theology and carried out research in a Scottish prison in 1988. My dissertation included a section on prison categories.

[Kingaroo]

So is there no such thing as a jail, then?
Are all offenses federal offenses? I guess so, since you don't have an equivalent of states...

[RevShirls]

The names prison and jail are generally interchangeable in the UK. Young offenders do go to a seperate custodial place now called Young Offenders Institution, formerly called Borstal.

[brachiopod]

In the UK, you are prosecuted by the Crown. There is no equivalent to separate Federal and State law.

If you are prosecuted and found guilty of an offence, whether it be murder, assault, shoplifting or fiddling your taxes, you are then sentenced.

The sentence (depending on the severity of the crime) can take a non-custodial form such as a fine and/or a 'suspended sentence' or 'community service order'. (Sentenced to '6 months prison suspended for two years' means that provided you commit no further crimes in the next 2 years, you will not have to serve the 6 months; 'Community Service' is usually measured in hours (eg 50 hours Comm Serv) and is the usual picking up litter, mending paths type thing.)

A custodial sentence means you will serve time in prison (or jail - it means the same in the UK) or, a 'Young Offenders Institute' if you are under a certain age. Most prisons in the UK are 'general prisons', though certain prisons are 'maximum security' used for high-risk prisoners, serious offenders etc.

Other such divisions can be made within a prison, sexual offenders for instance, would tend to be separated on a different wing.

But, basically, (and to answer your question !), if you get a custodial sentence for a minor assault (or even petty theft if it's you 63rd offence !), then you go to prison.