Hundreds of prisoners set to be freed early to ease pressure on crowded jails
Prison bosses’ desperate plea to Justice Secretary: Let inmates out months before end of their sentences... or face RIOTS
HUNDREDS of criminals are set to be freed early in a controversial bid to relieve the crisis in Scotland’s massively overcrowded jails.
With the number of inmates expected to hit record levels, prison bosses have issued a stark warning that cramped conditions could spark riots.
Fearing a ‘catastrophic’ breakdown, prison governors have written to Justice Secretary Angela Constance to demand that she authorise the ‘emergency release’ of offenders.
Separately, the head of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has claimed current levels of overcrowding could lead to ‘concerted violence’ – and inmates demanding compensation because their human rights have been breached.
Laws introduced last year handed ministers the power to release prisoners early in exceptional circumstances.
This followed the use of such a policy as a one-off measure during the pandemic.
In 2020, then justice secretary Humza Yousaf authorised the early release of around 350 prisoners – including some guilty of attempted murder – to reduce the spread of infection behind bars.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday later revealed almost half of those freed went on to commit more crimes.
Now insiders have told this newspaper the situation in the country’s powder-keg prisons is so serious
‘We are clear immediate action needs to be taken’
that the release of inmates is likely to be given the go-ahead again. One said: ‘It sounds an extreme move... but this is an extreme situation.’
The plans would see hundreds of prisoners nearing the end of their sentences released early. Although jail bosses would only free inmates assessed as no longer posing a risk to the public, the move has sparked an angry reaction.
Opposition politicians accused the SNP of mismanagement of the criminal justice system and warned emergency release could betray victims and put the public at risk.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said: ‘We are opposed to prisoners being released before they’ve completed their sentences. If the SNP government does decide to set prisoners free, then they have a duty to be honest and upfront with the public.
‘Any early release needs to be fully transparent and subject to the most rigorous process of risk assessment.’
Labour MSP Pauline McNeill said: ‘Scotland’s prisons are dangerously overcrowded as a result of massive court backlogs and high levels of serious crime but the SNP has failed to tackle these issues and dragged its heels modernising our Victorian prison estate.
‘It is essential that early release of prisons doesn’t compromise public safety or let down victims.’
By the end of last month the number of inmates was 8,246 – the highest in more than four years – with the prison population forecast to hit a record 8,450 this summer. The Prison Governors Association Scotland (PGAS) has written to Ms Constance urging her to consider an emergency release scheme to reduce pressure on the system.
PGAS chair Natalie Beal – governor of HMP Glenochil in Clackmannanshire – said seven prisons were already rated as ‘red risk’ for overcrowding, ramping up pressure on staff and inmates.
She said: ‘Our members are working in a state of “permacrisis”, working with constant pressures due to the mix of population complexity and physical numbers.
‘We are operating with a prevailing sense of “only just coping” and are concerned emergency action will only be taken when something goes significantly wrong.
‘The PGAS would welcome urgent mitigation in the form of emergency release measures, greater use of electronic monitoring – particularly used instead of remand.’
A PGAS spokesman yesterday confirmed it was awaiting a decision from Ms Constance, adding: ‘We are clear immediate action needs to be taken in the short term to release pressure on the system and ask that this is considered with some urgency.’ Last June, Holyrood passed the Bail and Release from Custody Bill, giving Ministers the power to authorise the emergency release of prisoners.
This can be done ‘in response to the effect of an emergency situation and for the purpose of protecting the security and good order of a prison, or the health, safety or welfare of prisoners or those working in a prison’.
It is not clear how much time would be cut from sentences, but in England and Wales a scheme was set up last October allowing prisoners to be released up to 18 days early to try to tackle overcrowding. Last week it was extended so inmates can be freed up to 70 days early.
Earlier this year SPS chief executive Teresa Medhurst discussed the possibility of emergency release, saying that overcrowding in prisons was at a ‘tipping point’.
She added: ‘We cannot take any more. Prisons become very unsafe. The atmosphere, the tension, the volatility increases.
‘Levels of violence increase, levels of self-harm increase.’
This month she also warned that the current levels of overcrowding could lead to riots.
She told MSPs at Holyrood’s public audit committee that the status of Barlinnie, Edinburgh, Glenochil, Grampian and Perth prisons was already ‘red risk’.
‘They are telling us they are on the brink,’ she said.
Ms Medhurst also warned overcrowding could prompt human rights claims from prisoners. She added: ‘We’re not as yet in a position where we’re not meeting our legal obligations. But a sustained period of this high level of overpopulation will certainly get us there far more quickly than we anticipated.’
Last night the Scottish Government declined to confirm officially if prisoners are to be released early. A spokesman said: ‘We are carefully considering the issues raised by the Prison Governors Association in their letter.’