DEAL US IN FOR SOME FREEDOM
Drug fiends among prisoners to get Covid-19 release
Detailed figures from the Irish Prison Service show how 586 inmates had been let out of prison before their sentence ended on Monday of this week.
Of those, 176 were serving sentences for theft or other related offences, while 100 were in jail for “controlled drug offences”.
Another 50 were in jail for attempts or threats to murder, harassment, and related offences, while five were in jail for robbery, extortion and hijacking
Dealers have got out of jail early Picture posed offences. One prisoner had been convicted of homicide, another of kidnapping or related crimes, while 12 were serving time for weapons or explosives offences. No sex offenders have been given temporary release, according to a database of offenders that was released following a Freedom of Information request. Women have been far more likely to get temporary release, with 110 females – nearly 19% of the total – currently enjoying freedom from jail. By contrast, women make up less than 6% of the total prisoners in the system currently but both female jails had already been overcrowded prior to the Covid-19 crisis.
Two inmates serving sentences of more than 10 years have also been released.
One of them is a man in Cloverhill who has already served almost 11 years for what were described as “burglary and related offences”.
A second man, serving a sentence of more than 10 years for theft or related offences, has been released from Castlerea Prison having been jailed in July 2013.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said all releases were subject to conditions which can include being of good behaviour, avoiding licensed premises, staying at a fixed address, and signing on at a local garda station.
news@irishmirror.ie