Behind bars Governors veto release of quarter of prisoners

The early release of prisoners has been branded “reckless” after a criminal was put back behind bars after just 12 hours and jail governors stepped in to prevent a quarter of inmates being freed.

A scheme was introduced in Scotland earlier this year to ease overcrowding in prisons, with 477 prisoners released between June and July.

Inmates with 180 days or less to serve from a sentence of under four years were eligible for early freedom – a total of 648 people.

But 171 convicted criminals (26.4 per cent) were kept locked up after prison governors vetoed their release because of the risk they posed to other people or to themselves.

1919 Magazine can also reveal that one man who was freed had no support put in place and found himself back in jail within 12 hours after drinking and then assaulting someone.

Victim Support Scotland said there needs to be a complete “re-think” of emergency release proposals, with “adequate preparation, rehabilitation, and access to support services” put in place.

The Scottish Prison Service said it is working hard to reduce the risk of reoffending and ensure communities are safe.

The target capacity of Scotland’s prison estate is 8,007, but this was higher than 8,300 at one point last month – with fears the number could reach 9,000 by January.

Under the early release scheme – which mirrored action being taken in England and Wales – nobody convicted of sexual or domestic abuse offences was freed prematurely.

Governors could also prevent the release of those thought to pose a risk of immediate harm to an individual or a group.

“The governor’s veto is a crucial safeguard and is a critical element of risk assessment”

“We had lobbied strongly for the veto to be included as part of the Bail and Release from Custody Act and were pleased that this was implemented and that governors’ knowledge of the prisoners in their estate rightly prevented the early release of 171 prisoners.

“We feel strongly that any future early release proposals should continue to contain this safeguard.”

VSS added that only two per cent of victims were notified of their perpetrator’s early release, which it described as “deeply concerning and simply unacceptable”.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson Liam Kerr told 1919: “These astonishing stats lay bare the recklessness of the SNP’s early-release scheme.

“The fact that prison governors felt compelled to use their power of veto in a quarter of cases is proof of the risk posed by so many of the offenders the SNP are intent on releasing on to Scotland’s streets.”

Of the 477 prisoners who were part of the early release scheme in June and July, it emerged last month that 57 were back behind bars – including 12 who were out for 10 days or less.

Malcom Paul, mentoring services manager at Heavy Sound, which operates a prison-based programme, said sufficient support on the outside is essential to help prisoners reintegrate.

He told 1919 that one man he was helping was freed a week before his planned release date, with just three days’ notice, leaving insufficient time to put the required support in place for him when he got out.

“Social work had set up a plan for him getting out, got him accommodation, and then he got released early which offset all the plans that were already in place,” he said.
“Nobody could pick him up [from the prison] so he got his brother to pick him up, who never turned up on time. He ended up just going away and drinking.

“Obviously there’s parts of taking responsibility for things, but a lot of the guys don’t really need that much of a reason.

“He ended up getting put somewhere to stay and ended up assaulting one of his neighbours and is now looking at a long-term prison sentence. He was back in prison within 12 hours.”

“We always work hard to support people in their journey towards release, to reduce their risk of reoffending, and help build safer communities”

The Scottish Prison Service said additional measures were put in place to ensure “good communication with partners and successful outcome for individuals”.

These included weekly meetings with key stakeholders such as Social Work Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), individual assessments in advance of each release, and ‘liberation packs’ with details on how to claim benefits on release, key contact details for the local authority area, a GP registration card, and a list of appointments arranged for the individual.

Key partners, including local authority housing services, justice social work services, DWP, NHS boards and public sector partners, all received a list prior to each tranche of releases, providing details on those who had been approved for liberation the following week.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “We always work hard to support people in their journey towards release, to reduce their risk of reoffending, and help build safer communities.

“During the period of emergency early release, this included carefully considering all those who met the strict criteria set by the Scottish Government.”

Falling through
the gap

By Malcom Paul
Mentoring services manager at Heavy Sound

We have found ourselves in this position where the prisons are overcrowded and it’s a knee-jerk reaction.

There needs to be a package of care. If you give everybody the choice to get out early, they’re going to choose that, but I sat down with that gentleman who was arrested within 12 hours and he said ‘I wish I had just managed to stay in for that longer period and then just went through the plan that we had’.

When people are getting released from prison, it’s a really difficult period to get housing and everything set up, so if they’re releasing more people, of course the community’s going to be overwhelmed and that’s where people fall through the gap.
The system is setting people up to fail.

We can release people from prison, that’s great, but there’s got to be a bigger picture, a more radical reaction to this. There’s got to be more done.

Poll: Scots concerned about early release

Eight out of 10 Scots are concerned about the early release of prisoners, a new poll has suggested.

In the research conducted by Opinion Matters, 29 per cent of respondents in Scotland said they were “very concerned”, and a further 50 per cent were “somewhat concerned”.

However, the numbers fell considerably when asked about the idea of subjecting those released to continuous drug monitoring.

Forty-three per cent of Scots said they would be less concerned in this scenario, while 89 per cent said drug testing is important to the rehabilitation process of UK prisoners.

Around three-quarters said those who test positive for drugs should lose their eligibility for early release.

More than 2,000 people across the UK took part in the survey, including more than 160 in Scotland, which was commissioned by Drug Patch.

The company plans to bring it product, the Sweat Patch, to the UK, which it claims enables continuous drug monitoring and supports individuals through their recovery journey.