Prisoners released by mistake hits record high as one jail releases WRONG inmate
WATCH: The Dewbs and Co. panel debate prisoners being mistakenly released from jails
GB News
New data has revealed prison bosses have freed a record number of prisoners by mistake.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) released 87 people too early last year, with a total of 308 people over the last five years having been mistakenly freed too soon.
Of the 308, at least 41 were serving sentences for violent crimes, while another seven were sex offenders and 21 were in prison on drugs charges.
The majority of accidental early releases are due to errors over paperwork.
The number of prisoners mistakenly released has hit record highs
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However at least seven people over the last five years have been released because guards were confused over the identities of prisoners.
This includes one case at HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire, where guards let the wrong prisoner out for a hospital visit because he and another inmate shared the same surname.
Retired detective chief superintendent Kevin Moore told The Telegraph: "This issue is worryingly becoming more and more frequent. I have a view that with anything that once is a mistake, more than once is downright carelessness. There should be fail safe checks put in place to ensure that these occurrences just don't happen.
"Such errors are putting the public at unnecessary risk and this is totally unacceptable when such incidents are completely avoidable."
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HMP Grendon accidentally released the wrong prisoner
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It comes after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has admitted Prisons in England and Wales will run out of space despite Government plans to build four more jails.
Mahmood also suggested councils could be overruled to push through the construction plans in a bid to grip the overcrowding crisis, and hinted jury trials could be scrapped in some instances to cut the backlog of court cases.
It comes amid concerns over the prevalence and availability of drugs in jails as MPs heard contraband is being brought into prisons in children’s nappies.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has promised to find a total of 14,000 cell spaces in jails by 2031. Some 6,400 of these will be at newly built prisons, with £2.3 billion towards the cost over the next two years.
Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood
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The Government’s 10-year prisons plan – which the MoJ said is aimed at making sure “we can always lock up dangerous criminals” – includes prison build plans that are already in motion.
The strategy document said HMP Millsike in Yorkshire will provide about 1,500 cell spaces next year. Another site in Leicestershire, which has already been granted planning permission, is set to make a further 1,700 prison places available.
About 1,500 cell spaces will be provided at a jail in Buckinghamshire while another prison will be built next to HMP Garth in Lancashire, offering 1,700 places.
According to the MoJ, both buildings have outline planning permission so far – which allows developers and landowners to provide information with a view to later making a more detailed proposal.
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