Jack Straw is criticised over 'irrational' refusal to grant Ronnie Biggs parole

Published on Tuesday 17 November 2009 19:37

JUSTICE Secretary Jack Straw is to give up his power to veto the release of more than 400 prisoners, it was revealed yesterday – as he was criticised for refusing parole to Ronnie Biggs.

The powers apply to criminals sentenced to 15 years or longer before new rules came into force in 2005. Around 430 prisoners are thought to fall into this category, while for the remainder the Parole Board's rulings are already final.

Under measures in the Coroner's and Justice Act, given Royal Assent last week, Mr Straw could lose the power early next year.

He exercised it this summer when he kept Biggs inside despite a recommendation by the Parole Board that the 80-year-old be released. Mr Straw later released Biggs on compassionate grounds because of ill-health.

The board that considered Biggs' case said the Great Train Robber should be let out because he presented no threat to society, but Mr Straw accused Biggs of being "utterly unrepentant" about his crimes.

Parole Board chairman Sir David Latham criticised the decision yesterday, saying there was no "rational reason" to keep Biggs in prison. He said Mr Straw had been influenced by the feeling that the public wanted Biggs to stay behind bars.

Sir David said: "Jack Straw may well have said, 'My gut feeling is that people do not like the idea of a man who has not admitted he has done something really awful being released'.

"I think it was a genuine feeling on his part on the way the public might feel about it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was a rational decision. I think it's quite a good example of where politicians find themselves in difficult positions.

"There was, in my view, no rational reason for it in terms of the way in which the Parole Board has been asked to deal with release."

He said the public trust in release decisions could be undermined because of the "political element" currently involved.

And he said a legal challenge to Mr Straw's ruling would probably have been successful.

In his submission to the Ministry of Justice on reforms to the Parole Board's functions, Sir David called for wide-ranging measures to "depoliticise" early release.

He also said the Justice Secretary should be stripped of his power to decide when prisoners can be moved from closed to open prisons. Such decisions affect when prisoners are likely to be released.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The Justice Secretary made the decision to refuse parole principally because Mr Biggs had shown no remorse for his crimes nor respect for the punishments given to him and because the Parole Board found his propensity to breach trust a very significant factor.

"In the case for compassionate grounds

… the medical evidence clearly showed that Mr Biggs is very ill and that his condition had deteriorated.

"Mr Biggs is subject to the same strict licence conditions as other prisoners on release. If he were to breach those conditions or commit any further offence, he would be liable to immediate recall to prison."