Boom in prisoners who f lout day release

THE number of prisoners breaching the conditions of their day release has soared by 55 per cent in one year amid a wider crisis in Britain’s jails.

There were 543 cases in 2018/19 where prisoners either returned to jail late or in some cases simply never came back and remained at large.

This was up from 350 breaches in 2017/18, prompting campaigners to accuse the Government of ‘taking risks’ with public safety.

The figures, from the Ministry of Justice, are a blow to ministers, who are hoping to massively increase the day release scheme to help get prisoners back into work.

Separate data from the ministry also raised concerns over rising levels of drug-taking, violence and selfharm in prisons.

There were a record 34,425 assaults in 2018/19 – including 10,311 attacks on staff – a rise of 11 per cent com pared to the previous year. The number of incidents where drugs were found in prisons rose by 41 per cent in a year, from 13,118 in 2017/18 to 18,435 in 2018/19.

And one in seven jails were rated as being of ‘serious concern’, which was the highest since the department’s records began in 2000.

In May, ministers announced a major roll- out of the Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) policy, with some inmates being offered placements at the Pret-a-Manger sandwich chain.

The Government believes the scheme cuts the cycle of reoffending by helping prisoners gradually adjust to life outside.

But campaigners point out that many of the offenders in these placements are muggers, robbers and burglars who could pose a serious risk to customers.

David Green, director of the Civitas think-tank, said: ‘These figures show that the prison service also needs to be on the priority list of the new Prime Minister. The Government has increased the number of prisoners released on temporary licence in order to reduce overcrowding but the latest count of prisoners failing to return suggests it has been prepared to take risks with public safety.’

The figures also showed that there were 57,968 self-harm incidents in the 12 months to March 2019, a 24 per cent rise on the previous year.

Wera Hobhouse, the Lib Dems’ justice spokesman, said: ‘The new Justice Secretary must urgently get to grips with the deepening crisis in our prisons.

‘Violence and self-harm in prisons is more prevalent than ever, and it’s getting worse all the time.

‘The Tories’ approach to criminal justice is completely failing. Prisons are overcrowded, understaffed and failing to rehabilitate the people we send there, meaning more reoffending and more people becoming victims of crime.’

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: ‘Every nine minutes, someone in prison hurts themselves. This is a truly shocking statistic.

‘If the new Prime Minister was in any doubt about the urgent need to improve safety in prisons, today’s figures must surely alert him to the scale of the task at hand.’

Experts say prisons are struggling to cope with an increasingly violent population of inmates on top of an epidemic of drug-taking.

Earlier this week the Chief Inspector of Prisons banned a young offenders’ institute in west London from accepting new inmates as it was deemed unsafe.

Referring to the increase in day release breaches, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘Temporary release for work purposes can drastically cut reoffending and, in 99.9 per cent of more than 375,000 instances of ROTL last year, prisoners abided by their conditions.’

They added: ‘We have taken decisive action to bolster security, strengthening our efforts to stop contraband from entering our prisons and helping us find more illicit items than ever before.’