Criminals with a wide range of mental health conditions and learning difficulties could receive more lenient sentences under guidelines being issued to judges and magistrates.

Conditions ranging from schizophrenia to post traumatic stress disorder, and low IQ to dyslexia, ought to be taken into consideration when a court is deciding what punishment to hand out, according to proposals being introduced by the Sentencing Council.

As part of the guidelines, judges will be asked to assess what extent a person's condition or disability might have played in them committing their offence.

The move is part of an effort to ensure that judges and magistrates have a clearer structure when dealing with people with a wide range of conditions.

According to the Sentencing Council, almost a quarter of all prison inmates have had some prior contact with mental health services.

In addition around seven per cent of the prison population is thought to have a learning disability, compared with two per cent of the rest of the population.

In setting out the proposals, which are now the subject of a public consultation, the Sentencing Council stressed it was important to "balance the consideration of the rights and needs of offenders, with the protection of the public and the recognition of the rights and needs of the victims to feel safe and see justice done".