Early release of prisoners suggests SNP has forgotten about murders that shocked Scotland

For months, rumours had circulated about the early release of prisoners. We raised concerns, but were told there were no plans to do so.

Despite the protestations, we were not surprised when it was announced. We can understand it too. We fully acknowledge the dangers of an overcrowded prison estate.

Following the emergency early release of prisoners, the Scottish Government is now consulting – for an entirely inadequate six weeks instead of the usual 12 – on the release of long-term prisoners.

It’s important to remember why early release was restricted in 2016: it happened after several high-profile murders committed by former inmates who were released early after allegedly being risk-assessed and deemed safe to return to the community. Currently, prisoners are only released in the last six months of their sentence due to significant safeguards implemented then.

The new proposals seek to change all that. Are our memories so short-term that we’ve forgotten those people who died?

The arguments for prisoner release hinge on prison over-crowding, but we simply can’t ignore the victims, why a judge imposed a custodial sentence of a certain length, and why these safeguards exist in the first place.

350 inmates to be freed early

All early-release prisoners will be subject to recall to custody if they breach their licence conditions. Essentially, we’re waiting until they reoffend, creating more victims, before taking preventative action. 

The Scottish Government consultation tells us that release will be automatic, resulting in 350 people who have served more than two-thirds of a long-term sentence being freed. This will be back-dated, including people sentenced under the previous regulations and whose sentence will be significantly reduced, without the requirement to complete a rehabilitation programme. This represents a major change for long-term prisoners as we’ve been told until now that they are not released unless they have completed rehabilitation.

The only exclusions apply to life prisoners, people in custody for certain terrorism offences, or those serving extended sentences. This means that prisoners serving sentences of four years or more for sexual crimes, serious and violent offences and domestic abuse for example will be released automatically under the new proposals.

There will be no risk assessment beforehand to indicate suitability of release, and no governor veto to provide a safety valve to prevent release of individuals known to be a risk – a protection for victims that Victim Support Scotland and others lobbied hard to have included in the Bail and Release from Custody Act.

Pressure on social workers

Prisoners will not be released on parole, and the only mechanism that victims will have to make representations will be through the flawed Victim Notification Scheme, that we know most victims have not signed up to, and that has been independently reviewed as being fundamentally inadequate.

The onus will be on social workers to complete a report to inform licence conditions and to supervise released prisoners in the community, and we know how stretched our colleagues are in that profession.

Victims and witnesses of crime often tell us they want a system that keeps them safe and prevents what happened to them happening to anyone else. Worryingly, we can see how the current proposals will set people up to fail, and in doing so, will create more victims potentially with deadly consequences. We urge the government to reconsider.

Kate Wallace is chief executive of Victim Support Scotland