Former prisons chief calls for early releases

A FORMER chief inspector of prisons has called for the early release of some prisoners to help overcrowded jails cope with the pandemic.

Lord Ramsbotham said he was “very worried” that prison staff depleted by the virus would not be able to handle the crisis.

Many prison officers were inexperienced as the service had lost the equivalent of 80,000 years of operational expertise through staff cuts, said the peer, who has written to The Daily Telegraph with a cross-party coalition of 50 fellow members of the House of Lords, police and crime commissioners, leading academics and charities to urge ministers to suspend short jail sentences. “The remand prisoners in particular should be let out,” he said. “They should also examine indeterminate sentence prisoners.”

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, has sanctioned the early release of 69 pregnant women and mothers and babies, but has resisted calls for the release of short-term prisoners. Andrea

Albutt, the president of the Prison Gov- ernors’ Association, said: “Prisons are now at the point where a decision must be made and implemented immediately on early release.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We have robust and flexible plans in place to protect the lives of staff and prisoners … there are no plans to end short-term prison sentences.”

Ministers are understood to be considering alternatives, such as transferring prisoners to Army barracks.

sir – The majority of people serving prison sentences of less than six months were sent there for nonviolent offences, most commonly theft. They are primarily men and women suffering a combination of deprivation, drug addiction, homelessness and mental ill-health.

This puts them at high risk of serious illness and death if infected with coronavirus, and adds enormous risks to prison staff, other prisoners, and the communities these prisoners will return to.

During the peak of the pandemic, 5,000 people will arrive in prison for a stay of three months. The churn of people going in and out of prison is extraordinarily high, with 82 per cent of people sent to prison for less than six months for theft being convicted again within a year of release.

Unless urgent action is taken, this rapid churn of people could lead to more deaths in prison and increased staff shortages, and make our prisons unmanageable.

In these extraordinary times, keeping non-violent and non-sexual offenders out of prison is the sensible thing to do to save lives. Christina Marriott

Revolving Doors Agency Rt Rev Rachel Treweek Bishop of Gloucester Lord Bradley (Lab)

Former Prisons Minister Lord Ramsbotham (Crossbench)

Former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons David Jamieson

Police and crime commissioner, West Midlands and 37 others; see telegraph.co.uk