Freeing criminals early from Scots prisons will ‘erode trust' in justice, charity warns
SNP ministers sneaked through the move unannounced before parly broke up for the summer, with the new home detention curfew rules kicking in from October
'SHAMEFUL' Freeing criminals early from Scots prisons will 'erode trust' in justice, charity warns
FREEING criminals from jail after just 15 per cent of their sentence will 'erode trust' in justice, a charity has warned.
Victim Support Scotland has hit out at a new law allowing cons to be freed from prison after just 15 per cent of their sentence would 'erode trust' in the justice system.
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Victim Support Scotland has raised concerns over the impact on trust in the justice system due to releasing prisoners early
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Scottish Tory MSP Liam Kerr said inmates will be "rubbing their hands with glee"
Credit: Alamy
We told earlier how SNP ministers sneaked through the move unannounced before parly broke up for the summer, with the new home detention curfew rules kicking in from October.
It means inmates, including violent offenders, could be freed on an electronic tag after 15 per cent of their sentence, down from the current 25 per cent.
Victim Support Scotland said the move was 'concerning', especially given 'the current lack of capacity for prisoner rehabilitation' in Scotland's jails.
A spokeswoman said: 'The recent Scottish Crime and Justice Survey shows decreasing confidence in the criminal justice system - this has been a repeated trend for the last five years.
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'Measures like these early release measures contribute to this erosion of trust.'
There were almost 6,000 criminals fitted with tags in 2023/24, with an increase of 14 per cent on the previous year.
Tragic cases involving criminals on home detention curfew include the 2017 murder of Paisley dad Craig McClelland by killer James Wright, who'd sabotaged his tag and dodged cops for six months.
The SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens voted for the move this week, but the Scottish Tories opposed it.
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Tory shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said prisoners across Scotland 'will be rubbing their hands with glee at the SNP's shameful capitulation to criminals'.
Victim Support Scotland, headed by chief exec , said its primary concern was 'the safety and wellbeing of people impacted by crime' and said victims must be informed of any early releases so they can 'plan for their safety and even risk meeting perpetrators unexpectedly in their community'.
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The spokeswoman added: 'We fear further Emergency Early Release programmes alongside Prisoner Early Release and revised Home Detention Curfew regulations, begging the question of any meaningful prison sentence or rehabilitation for offenders.'
A Scottish Government research report this month said offenders released under electronic monitoring - or EM - 'may be less likely to reoffend than those released without monitoring', but admitted: 'Some studies found no difference in offending behaviour between those released with EM and those without.'
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The change comes after separate laws giving short-term prisoners automatic early release after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than 50 per cent, amid efforts to cut prison populations.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said tagging was a 'well-established part of our justice system which provides structured and managed transition for individuals being released back into the community'.
She added: "There is no automatic right to home detention curfew.
"Decisions on home detention release are made by the Scottish Prison Service following careful consideration of each case.'
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