News In Focus
8 February 2010
End to automatic early prisoner release a Government priority
The Scottish Government is to make the abolition of the system of automatic early release from prison a priority in coming months.
Currently those jailed for less than four years serve a maximum of half their sentence and have no licence conditions on release. Inmates serving more than four years can apply for parole at half their term and are guaranteed to be released after two-thirds. Inmates are freed regardless of their behaviour in prison, or whether there are fears they will reoffend.
A spokesperson for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said reforms would be introduced as a priority for the Government in coming months, with offenders facing restrictions for the entire duration of their sentence.
The spokesperson said the Government was committed to replacing the current “arbitrary” system of early release with one that was driven by an individual offender’s risk to the community.
The system has come under fire after a series of violent crimes involving people who were on early release. One of these was the race-hate murder of teenager Kriss Donald, whose killer, Imran Shahid, was on early release after having been sentenced to 30 months in February 2003 for a serious assault and dangerous driving. He was released after 15 months and murdered Kriss Donald four months later.