Killers Running Free In UK: Report
Nearly 1,000 offenders who should have been sent back to prison are still at large, according to UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw. They include 19 convicted murderers who have not been returned to custody. Report by BBC Online.
Also free are rapists and people convicted of manslaughter who were on licence from jails in England and Wales between January 1999 and March 2009. The Conservatives said the figures would shock the public and accused the government of putting people at risk. They blamed the government’s Labour’s “reckless” early release scheme and “lax approach” to probation.
Figures published by the National Offender Management Services (NOMS) show 935 offenders whose licences had been revoked had not been returned to jail as they should have been. As well as murderers, those still free include two people convicted of manslaughter and 26 others convicted of sexual offences, including 12 for rape or attempted rape.
Mr Straw said the recall system was working well, with less than 1% of recalled offenders not returned to jail between 1999 and 2008. “Ten times more offenders are being recalled to prison each year than before 1997 as a result of our tough new recall regime,” he said. “Only about 10,000 offenders were recalled in the 15 years between 1984 and 1999 – when our new measures were implemented – and the old system was cumbersome and court based. “Since then, 92,000 offenders have been recalled. Of those recalled between 1999 and June 2008, just 0.7% of offenders have not been apprehended. But we are far from complacent and recognise that the system has to be strengthened further, not least in respect of those serious offenders who remain at large.”
But [opposition] Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve said: “The whole point of releasing prisoners on licence is that they can be monitored and returned to prison if they commit a breach. “The public will be shocked that the government has lost track of almost 1,000 criminal fugitives – including murderers, paedophiles and sex offenders. Labour’s reckless early release scheme and lax approach to probation is putting the public at greater risk. Cuts to frontline probation services will only make this situation even worse.”
The Criminal Justice Act 1991, which only applies to offences committed before 4 April 2005, provides for the automatic release of prisoners at the halfway point of their sentence for those serving up to four years. The Act also provides for automatic release at the two-thirds point of the sentence for those serving four years or more, subject to probation supervision until the three quarter point of sentence. The Criminal Justice Act 2003, which applies to offences committed on or after 4 April 2005, provides for the automatic release of prisoners at the halfway point, with probation supervision for those serving 12 months or more until the end of their sentence …
The Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said that this was the first time the government has published this information. “It is part of a commitment to open justice and ensuring communities have as much information as possible about the Criminal Justice System,” she said.
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