JUSTICE: STURGEON LOCKED INTO ARGUMENT OVER SAFETY OF RELEASE FROM PRISON

By Bill Heaney

How in the name of God did they ever let that guy out of jail in the first place? It’s a cry that goes up frequently in living rooms across the country when they hear on the News thatf yet another criminal is on the run in Scotland.

Tory Jamie Green called it out at Holyrood on Thursday: “Two weeks ago, the SNP Government admitted that hundreds of criminals had received the wrong assessment of the risk that they pose to the public.

“Assuming that all records have now been fully reviewed, I ask the First Minister, first, how many criminals were given a lower risk assessment than they should have been and, secondly, how many were freed from prison before that was safe?”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Following a review by the Scottish Prison Service, we can confirm that there are no public protection issues as a consequence of the issue in relation to the eight first grant of temporary release cases that have been identified. There were, as I said, eight cases.

“Jamie Greene asked just a couple of weeks ago who the eight people were and where they had been released to. I can confirm that, of the eight individuals, seven are actually still in custody as we speak, because, of course, first grant of temporary release is not final release, but is about allowing a prisoner some limited access—often escorted access, perhaps for a few hours—to the community for the first time.

“All 285 of the open cases that the risk-scoring issue appeared to have affected have been checked by social work professionals, who have provided assurance, again, that no public protection issues have been identified.”

She added: “On the specific question about the risk scoring, it is important to note that a decision to grant release would never be determined based solely on the displayed score. In such cases, there is a more holistic assessment of wider circumstances.

“Following the decision, there is a process of on-going and dynamic risk assessment and management.

“It was a serious issue that was identified and the steps that I just outlined have been taken. Of course, if there is more information to share with Parliament, we will do that speedily, as we have done to date.”

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Tory Justice spokesperson Jamie Greene and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

However, Mr Greene persisted: “It is all very well to say that there were “no public protection issues”, but the reality is that we still do not know how many people were wrongly released. We also do not know how many of them possibly went on to re-offend in our communities.

“I am afraid that the blunder is just another sign that the Government has lost its way on justice, because it is not just letting criminals out early by accident. Half of violent criminals avoid jail completely.

“Even when they do go to jail, the SNP’s latest proposal is to cut automatic early release even further so that they serve even less time in prison, in the first place.

“The First Minister will probably say in reply that there is a consultation out on the matter, but I will ask her for her personal view.

“Does she think that it is morally right that serious criminals are automatically released just a third of the way through their sentences?”

The First Minister told him: “Being able to give an assurance to the public that there were no public protection issues is important, regardless of whether it fits the Tory narrative.

“We will continue to take balanced and sensible decisions to make sure that people who deserve to be in prison are in prison.

“We will also support and promote wider efforts to reduce re-offending and support rehabilitation, because that is in the long-term interests of potential and actual victims of crime.”

Picture: Barlinnie Prison in the East End of Glasgow.