Release of sex offenders is ‘rushed and unplanned’

HIGH-RISK sex offenders are being released from prison without having their “attitude, thinking or behaviour” addressed, a watchdog has warned.

The prison service was urged to get a grip of “shocking” failings at HMP Dartmoor in Devon, which holds hundreds of high-risk inmates, including sex offenders. Most of those housed at the prison were serving more than four years, according to the assessment from HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP).

The proportion of sex offenders as a percentage of the total population at the prison has doubled over four years to 70 per cent.

Peter Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, said Dartmoor was not a designated resettlement prison, which meant it did not have adequate resources to effectively engage in pre-release planning. The HMIP raised concerns over “unplanned, rushed and poor” release planning for the highrisk population.