More calls for early release for prisoners during pandemic
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Last week a defence barrister suggested freeing some prisoners and now the former chief inspector of prisons Lord Ramsbotham has called for the early release of some inmates serving short sentences to help overcrowded jails cope.
He said he was ‘very worried’ about the effect of the crisis on jails, saying prison staff depleted by the virus would not be able to handle the outbreak.
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Hide AdHis comments came in a letter to The Daily Telegraph, written with a cross-party coalition of 50 fellow members of the House of Lords, police and crime commissioners, leading academics and charities, who all urged ministers to suspend short jail sentences.
“The remand prisoners in particular should be let out,” Lord Ramsbotham said.
“They should also examine indeterminate sentence prisoners.”
The peer added the jail system now suffered from an acute lack of experienced officers since it had lost the equivalent of 80,000 years of operational expertise through staff cuts.
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Hide AdJustice Secretary Robert Buckland has sanctioned the early release of 69 pregnant women and mothers and babies from jails, but has resisted calls for the release of short-term prisoners.
Andrea Albutt, the president of the Prison Governors' Association, told the Telegraph: “Prisons are now at the point where a decision must be made and implemented immediately on early release.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said there were currently ‘no plans to end short-term prison sentences’.
Alternatives such as transferring prisoners to Army barracks are said to be under consideration.