Concerns over remand system as majority held are later freed

MORE than half of all people imprisoned on remand go on to be released without further jail time, a new report has revealed, prompting concern over its widespread use in Scotland.

The document, published yesterday by the Scottish Government, shows that in 2019/20, 57 per cent of those placed on remand were released because they were either acquitted, their case was dropped, they received a non-custodial sentence, or they had already served their time.

One-third were released as “untried” meaning they were never returned to jail as sentenced prisoners.

The Scottish Prison Population Statistics also reveal that people are waiting longer on remand, with those spending more than 120 days awaiting trial or sentence jumping from 6% in 2009/10 to 17% in 2019/20.

Experts say the figures, which pre-date the Covid-19 crisis, are likely to be even worse now as the courts struggle with a backlog of cases.

Jim Watson, associate lecturer in criminology at the University of the West of Scotland, said: “These figures indicate that there are far too many people being remanded unnecessarily.

“Scotland has a proud tradition of claiming to have a welfare-orientated penal system, but the truth is that jail is often the first option and too many folk are being remanded which then puts pressure on an already overcrowded prison system, which increases the harms which could arise from being jailed.

“The thing that concerns me most in this report is the number involved. If one-third of people are being released from jail and not coming back, that can mean they were completely innocent of the crimes they were alleged to have committed or they were given a community disposal, which then begs the question why they were remanded in the first place.”

While the numbers of people on remand in Scotland has been reducing, the country still has the highest remand rate in Europe. Concerns about the country’s use of it have been ongoing for a number of years.

A 2018 parliamentary report found that the overwhelming view of experts within the justice system was that while the use of remand is necessary in certain circumstances, it is used too frequently.

Mr Watson said that its use has the potential to “destroy lives”.

“If you’re placed on remand, you’re cut off from your family, you’ve got the potential to lose any employment you have and it created problems with housing and benefits.

“There’s the stigmatisation that goes with it too – people look down their nose at you, they don’t distinguish between being sentences and being on remand, you’ve just been to the jail.

“Potentially, it’s as serious as getting a sentence, it can be just as traumatising, and you could be completely innocent.”

He, and many others, have called on the justice system to make more use of technology such as electronic monitoring or supervised bail orders in a bid to avoid custody.

Currently in Scotland 27% of the prison population is made up of remand prisoners, largely due to the Covid-19 crisis and the closure of many courts.

It normally sits at around 20%. Last summer, The Herald reported on concerns of overcrowding within the prison system, driven by the rise in remand cases.

With the resumption of summary business in court earlier this month, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Wendy Sinclair-gieben, said those concerns were coming to the fore again.

She said she anticipates a “rapid increase” in prisoner numbers, including the number on remand, over the next few months.

The prison statistics report also revealed that while the average daily population has risen over the last 10 years, the number of people spending time in custody each year dropped by 15% between 2009/10 and 2019/20.

The proportion of sexual offenders also rose from 8% to 16%.