Open Prisons
(asked on 10th July 2015) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2015 to Question 5439 on open prisons, how many prisoners had committed each offence.
Open prisons provide an important opportunity for prisoners serving long sentences to be tested and to reintegrate into the community in a controlled manner prior to release. However, categorisation to open prison is never automatic. The Government has tightened the eligibility for open prisons, and only those who are assessed as a low risk are transferred to open prison. Prisoners serving a determinate sentence must be within 2 years of release before they can be considered for allocation to an open prison, and those serving determinate sentences will only be transferred following recommendation from the Parole Board.
The number of prisoners held in open prisons as at 31 March 2015 and convicted of offences within the category of ‘violence against the person’, is set out in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Number of prisoners held in open prison as at 31 March 2015 by “violence against the person” offence type
Offence Type | Number of prisoners as at 31/3/2015 |
MURDER | 329 |
WOUNDING WITH INTENT TO INFLICT GBH | 237 |
INFLICT GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM | 152 |
WOUNDING (INFLICTING GBH) | 95 |
MANSLAUGHTER | 70 |
ATTEMPTED MURDER | 43 |
DEATH BY DANGEROUS DRIVING RTA 1988 | 43 |
ASSAULT OCCASIONING ABH | 28 |
POSSESSION OF FIREARM WITH INTENT. ENDANGER LIFE | 20 |
OTHER VIOLENCE OFFENCES | 18 |
MAKING THREATS TO KILL | 15 |
POSS FIREARM WI FEAR OF VIOLENCE (SECTION 16A) | 13 |
CRUELTY TO OR NEGLECT OF CHILDREN | 6 |
DEATH BY CARELESS DRIVING/DRINK DRUGS (SECTION 3A) | 6 |
POSSESSION OF AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON | 6 |
CARRYING A FIREARM WITH CRIM INTENT (SECTION 18) | 5 |
POSS F/A TIME COMMIT/ARREST FOR OFF (SECTION 17/2) | 3 |
COMMON ASSAULT | 2 |
ADMINISTER POISON | 1 |
ASSAULT OCCASIONING ABH (WHERE VICTIM IS A CHILD) | 1 |
ATTEMPT TO CHOKE, SUFFOCATE OR STRANGLE | 1 |
HARASSMENT | 1 |
INTIMIDATION OF WITNESS | 1 |
MAKE/KEEP EXPLO WI ENDANGER LIFE/PROP (SECTION 3) | 1 |
MALICIOUS WOUNDING (SECTION 20) | 1 |
RACIALLY OR RELIGIOUSLY AGG ASSAULT (CDA 1998 c37) | 1 |
All | 1,099 |
Notes to table:
· The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
· These figures have been based on predominant function of the prison and therefore excludes prisoners held in open wings of closed establishments.