General Chat

More inmates allowed out overnight
Last Updated: Sunday, 15 November 2009, 21:16 GMT

The number of prisoners who are allowed out of prison overnight has trebled as the Government tries to ease overcrowding in jails.
The Conservatives say Ministry of Justice figures obtained by the party show the number of people granted a Resettlement Overnight Release (ROR) licence went up from 3,813 in 2006 to 11,559 in 2008.
Prisoners nearing the end of their sentence can apply for a number of ROR licences, which allow them to spend up to four nights away from their cells before release.
The Conservatives claim that because prisoners not in jail overnight are not counted in the prison population figures, the shortage of cells is being underestimated.

Justice secretary Dominic Grieve said: "While there is a case for allowing some prisoners to stay home overnight as they approach release in order to re-establish community links and aid their transition back into society, overnight release should never be used simply because of a lack of prison cells.
"The trouble is that Labour's incompetent management has yet again brought prisons back to bursting point."
But a Prison Service spokesman said: "ROR exists to rehabilitate offenders and make communities safer, not to relieve population pressures. We are dealing with those pressures by putting in more prison places, with nearly 25,000 created since 1997.
"Resettlement Overnight Release (ROR) has been operating effectively for a number of years with robust eligibility criteria and rigorous risk assessment. Suitable prisoners are released for specific reasons towards the end of their sentences with measures in place to monitor them, and recall them if necessary.
"Reparative volunteer work, training, education and maintaining family contact all contribute to resettlement and cutting crime.
"Our first priority is to protect the public, and rehabilitating offenders is a vital part of that. That approach has helped achieve a 20% fall in the frequency of adult reoffending between 2000 and 2007."

About as safe as letting a murderer go out shopping in ordinary clothing and she absconded, well there's a surprise!

Does anyone know if the woman was recaptured at the weekend?

Lizx

Just found this:

A convicted murderer who absconded while out on an escorted shopping trip has been arrested, police said.


Patricia Gillette, 41, escaped at about 3pm on Friday while visiting shops in West Wickham High Street, near Bromley, south east London.
Gillette, of Streatham, south London, was being held at the nearby Bethlem Royal Hospital.
In July 2007 she was convicted at the Old Bailey of murdering Mark Murphy, 38, at his home in Streatham in August 2006 and detained indefinitely under a hospital order.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said Gillette was arrested at 10.45am on Sunday after being spotted by police in Churchmore Road, Streatham and was being returned to hospital.


Lizx

omg, i live near Wakefield prison...high risk offenders

hope they don't let them out to go shopping...

Hi Stella, I think it is dreadful the way prisoners are allowed out with little or no supervision after just a short spell of serving their time.
Hopefully not from the prison near you tho

Lizx

I suppose it gives them the opportunity to have a few more children for the taxpayer to keep out of their bottomless pockets too.

Annx, yes there is that aspect too!

What with courses and training and all the stuff that is on offer in prison, it is hardly a punishment is it?

Lock em up and serve bread and water and no tvs and entertainment, that would be more of a deterrent perhaps.

Lizx