Tuesday, September 10, 2024 will see the release of 1,700 prisoners who have not seen out their sentences in full from UK jails.
This, the biggest mass-inmate release in a series of similar actions in recent weeks, comes as a government initiative to free up space in UK prisons. The actions are under intense criticism from all sides of society concerned about the probability of reoffenders and other subsequent effects of releasing still unrepentant criminals onto the streets unprepared for civil society .
Prisons overflowing, Chief Inspector says
Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons compared the situation to an overflowing bath saying, ‘they either had to turn the taps off or they had to let some water out’ making reference to the under capacity of UK jails. He went on to warn that many of those let go were unprepared for a life on the outside and would therefore end up homeless and inevitably reoffending.
Prison populations in the UK are currently at their highest ever with 88,521 inmates, a number that has increased by 1,000 in just the last month, a crisis situation that is ‘impeding the process of rehabilitation’, says Taylor. The majority of those up for early release were imprisoned for crimes related to drugs and the government has assured that the scheme will not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or other violent offences.
Europe’s prisons packed with pre-trial detainees
Prison overcrowding is not unique to the UK in Europe. According to The Council of Europe’s penal statistics, incarceration has been on the increase over the last three years, the majority of detentions being for violent and drug-related crimes. By percentage in the top of the overcrowded prisons listing are Italy, whose prisons are 109% full; Hungary at 109%; and Sweden at 102%. The statistics also point to part of the problem being delays in processing court trials with almost one-third of all inmates in European prisons being pre-trial detainees, Luxembourg topping the list in the EU at 49%, and 45% of Netherlands prison beds occupied by those still not having faced trial.
Shoplifters top list of women inmates in UK
Women’s prisons in the UK have seen a marked increase in jail sentences handed out. While still significantly lower than that of Men’s prisons. 6% of jail sentences handed out to women in the UK since the pandemic have been for shoplifting, a policy which contrasts sharply with Spanish law in which shoplifters face little or no punishment if the price of the items pinched is below €200.
