Locked up for horrific crimes but freed early
2 violent offenders paroled each week
VIOLENT criminals and sex offenders including murderers and rapists are being freed early on parole at a rate of nearly two a week.
Figures obtained by the Mail show the extraordinary scale of parole for the most dangerous criminals, sparking fears over the risk to public safety.
Those freed include ‘lifers’ – mainly murderers – who are let out after decisions by the secretive Parole Board for Scotland (PBS) after serving minimum ‘punishment periods’.
Attempted murderers and people convicted of culpable homicide are also among those freed after applying for parole halfway through their jail terms.
Last night, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘There is a place for parole in the justice system but people will be alarmed dangerous individuals are being set free with such regularity.’
Figures from the PBS show 54 of the 121 criminals jailed for four years or more who won parole in 2015-16 were violent.
A breakdown shows the offences of which violent offenders were convicted – ten for culpable homicide, four for attempted murder, nine for assault and robbery, 34 for serious assaults and one for ‘assault and abduction’. This totals 58 offences because four offenders had been convicted of two types of offence.
For sexual crime, four people won parole. Between them they had two convictions for rape, one for lewd and libidinous behaviour and one for ‘threatening and abusive’ sexual behaviour. The number of paroled ‘lifers’ – a category that includes mainly murderers but also some violent rapists – was 44.
‘Face the full force of the law’
This means in total 102 murderers and other violent and sexual offenders were paroled in 2015-16 – nearly two a week on average.
Last night, Scottish Labour justice spokesman Claire Baker said: ‘Anybody who commits a horrific crime of a violent and sexual nature must face the full force of law. The parole board must ensure anybody who is being freed on parole is reformed and will not present any danger to the public.’
In July, the Mail revealed one in eight prisoners freed on parole after serving ‘life’ sentences has spent less than a decade in jail.
Life terms are handed down for all murders and the most brutal rapes – but some ‘lifers’ spend less than seven years behind bars.
According to parole bosses, 24 lifers released on parole in previous years were recalled to jail in 2015-16 because of ‘concern’ over their conduct in the community.
Judges set mandatory ‘punishment periods’ for lifers, after which the PBS must decide whether to free them based on the risk they pose to the outside world. Parole is described by the PBS as a ‘system that enables offenders to be released on licence in the community under the supervision of a community-based social worker’.
A PBS spokesman said: ‘A prisoner will only be released on parole if the board considers that their risk is manageable in the community. If released, the board will set licence conditions that are designed in each case to assist with the management of risk.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said ‘decisions on the release of prisoners, where eligible… are a matter’ for parole chiefs, adding: ‘They are independent of ministers, who are obliged by law to accept their decision.’