Hundreds of long-term Scottish prisoners to find out if they will be released early
Scotland’s justice secretary is due to announce her decision this afternoon
Hundreds of long-term prisons will find out today if they will be released early in a bid to ease overcrowding in Scottish jails.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance will make a statement this afternoon about whether or not the Scottish Government will go ahead with proposals to release long-term prisoners who have served two-thirds or more of their sentence.
It would not apply to those serving life sentences, but could cover those convicted of violent or sexual offences such as culpable homicide, child abuse, drug traffickers and death by dangerous driving.
This comes after 477 inmates who were serving short-term sentences of less than four years were released over the summer. Love politics? Then sign up for The Steamie daily newsletter
Despite this measure being taken, on Wednesday the prison population was 8,305.
This is close to the previous record number of 8,420 back in 2012 - the target capacity is 8,007.
The Scottish Government says there are a number of reasons why the prison population is so high, including:
- A reduction in the backlog of court cases caused by the pandemic
- Longer sentences for certain offences
- An increase in the prosecution of serious sexual offences
- Prisoners spending longer on remand waiting to stand trial
- A rise in convictions for serious and organised crime.
Ms Constance says more measures like home detention curfews will be introduced instead, and says there will be a shift towards balancing jail and supervision for prisoners.
She said: “Other European countries have lower prison populations and continue to have safe communities.
“There is much we can learn from other countries, particularly in the use of alternatives to custody.”