Release of prisoners is ‘not without incident’
The early release of prisoners due to the coronavirus outbreak has not been wholly without incident, according to a senior police officer.
Speaking at a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority yesterday, Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham – the head of Police Scotland’s response to Covid-19 – said “some interventions” had been required from the force.
Mr Graham declined to go into further details, saying the incidents were being treated as “live cases” by Police Scotland.
The comments come as it was announced by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) that 154 inmates were released early between 6 May and 18 May following a policy passed as part of the coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020.
Under the legislation, powers were given to governors of the prisons to veto early release, a mechanism which was used in 23 instances.
In total, 204 were eligible for release in the first of three tranches, which will see a further 241 prisoners given a chance to leave jail by 1 June.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Graham said: “It’s not been wholly without incident in terms of some interventions being required by the service, which I wouldn’t want to go into detail about as some of those matters are still ongoing as live cases.
“What I would say about the reassurance on public safety, with the level of knowledge and communication that we have in relation to these prisoners who are being released early, it goes beyond what we might normally have in terms of prisoners reaching the end of their sentences.”