Victims being ignored by early prisoner release, says charity | UK News

Tackling prison overcrowding by the early release of inmates is being put ahead of victims’ and public safety, a charity has said.

Up to 390 prisoners sentenced to less than four years in jail are to be released after serving 40% of their sentence, rather than 50%, under the latest move from the Scottish government to reduce inmate numbers.

They will be released in three tranches over a six-week period, starting on 18 February, with prisoners serving sentences for domestic abuse or sexual offences excluded.

Victim Support Scotland (VSS) warned early release programmes had “raised anxiety among victims generally” and could erode trust in the justice system.

“We’re seeing a situation where resources are taking priority over victim and public safety, it’s not a position we are supportive of at all,” VSS chief executive Kate Wallace said.

“The big concern is that it erodes trust in the criminal justice system as a whole and the problem with that is it can put victims off from reporting in the future.

“They’ve told us they feel de-prioritised in all these conversations and their safety is not a priority over prison officers and others due to the overcrowding crisis in prisons.

“We want people to come forward and report crime but these policy decisions and the way they’ve been done don’t help with that.”

According to the latest figures, there were 8,332 in Scotland’s prisons – above the target operating capacity of 8,007.

Last summer 477 prisoners were released early to ease overcrowding, with 61 of them later returned to custody.

Linda Pollock, deputy chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), said staff were focusing on rehabilitation work with prisoners whose release was imminent.

She conceded that prison overcrowding had limited the amount of time available for such work but added: “We are prioritising those who are going to be released.

“We saw in the release last summer a small number of people have reoffended but we have worked with partners and learned from that,” she added.

The Scottish government said victims who have already signed up to the Victim Notification Scheme will be told automatically by SPS if there is a change to the date of release of the prisoner in their case.

Victim Support Scotland said the onus is currently on victims to sign up to the scheme and it wants to see a more “proactive” system.

Ms Wallace said: “Often victims are asked quite early on in the justice process if they want to sign up to the notification scheme. There’s no follow up if they change their mind.

“Many won’t remember if they signed up to the scheme or not so if you’re not sure contact either SPS or VSS or Children First and we can ask on your behalf.

“The last thing victims want is to bump into the person who committed a crime against them without anticipating that. It causes huge anxiety and trauma.

“They want to know when that person is being released and if there are conditions on that release in advance so they can plan for their own safety and get support.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “In line with trends seen elsewhere in the UK, Scotland’s prison population has significantly grown in recent years and, consequently, this rise has impacted prisons and the wider justice system.

“We will continue to work closely with victim support organisations to ensure that accessible information is available to victims on the change to the release point for short-term prisoners.”