Did you know .......?

In the USA there are over 2 million people in prison (3,500 on death row). The population of the US is 295 million. That's one prisoner for every 147 people in the country.

In the UK there are 78,000 people in prison. The population of the UK is 59 million. That's one prisoner for every 756 people in the country.

Per head of population the US imprisons 5 times as many people as we do in the UK.

Is this a result of different sentencing regimes or do we have fewer criminals? Or do they just get away with it in the UK?