Prisoners' Release

(asked on 5th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2021 to Question 90879, of those convicted offenders released in error from (a) courts and (b) prisons since 2010, how many have (i) not returned to prison and (ii) returned to prison; and for those returned, what duration of time elapsed before their return to prison.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 10th January 2022

A prisoner is released in error if they are released earlier than their correct release date, they will be unlawfully at large until and unless they are subsequently released correctly or returned to custody. If the person so released is not aware of the error and makes no attempt to evade arrest, then they have committed no offence and, in that sense, they may not be at fault.

Releases in error are monitored closely to analyse the frequency across the estate and identify any trends nationally, while taking into consideration the management of risk to the public.

Between 2010 and March 2021, 678 releases in error took place. I have asked officials to review methods of measuring rates of return, owing to the complexity of such data gathering. For example, if the prisoner was released one or two days early, they would not be recalled to prison, however, would be counted as still at large.

This data is not currently held, and information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

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