Judges are more likely to rule in prisoners’ favour immediately after having a meal break, scientists said today.

Prisoners seeking parole stand a better chance of having it granted if they face a judge shortly after a meal break, according to a study.

Researchers following judges granting parole to inmates found that shortly after a snack or meal, they returned a favourable verdict 65 per cent of the time.

Hard to stomach: Judges were up to 65 per cent more favourable to prisoners immediately after having lunch, according to a study

But as time passes, they are less likely to give parole until they eventually give hardly any positive outcomes for prisoners.

It is thought the findings by Columbia University, New York, could hold for other types of important decision making.

One researcher told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Indeed the caricature that justice is what the judge ate for breakfast might be an appropriate caricature for human decision making in general.’

Professor Jonathan Levav studied over 1,000 decision made over 50 days by judges who ruled on parole requests in four different Israeli jails.

The authors recorded the chronological order of the rulings relative to two food breaks – and for a mid-morning food break and another for lunch.

The percentage of positive rulings plummeted from 65 per cent to nearly zero in each of the three-decision making sessions demarcated by the lunch break.

Judges were also found to be almost completely unfavourable in parole hearings just before meal breaks

The results then jumped back to 65 pre cent again immediately after the two food breaks.

Evidence from a study seems to suggest that prisoners whose cases are heard early in the week, or even in the day, stand a better chance than fellow inmates who are dealt with later.

The results, according to the authors, reinforce the view that judicial reasoning could be subject to bias.

One author said: ‘Our findings add to the literature that documents how experts are not immune to the influence of extraneous irrelevant information.’

So the take home message here must be that if you are due to come up before “the Beak” any time soon make sure you make muffins and deliver them to the Judges’s chambers before the hearing.