London, Nov. 30, (PRINTWORDS NEWS)It seems surprising how, despite the many precautions and measures taken by the government, the judicial system reeks from the stench of recurring mistakes. Grave ones. Every year, thousands of crimes are committed. A percentage of them are discovered and the culprits punished. But what is the point if they are let go, even before their respective sentences are over? The whole point of putting these criminals behind bars is to ensure that they don’t ever repeat the monstrosities. That becomes meaningless if due to some mistake of the authorities, they are allowed to go scot free. Who knows how they might celebrate their unprecedented freedom?
That is exactly the question that comes to mind when we hear of the callousness of the British judicial system. The Ministry of Justice has released certain statistics that show that every year, a huge number of criminals are released earlier than their sentences permit. This has been going on for the past five years. Last time they counted, the toll was 200.
Five years. A long time to adopt a healthy lifestyle that does not involve a tendency to run from the law. Or to return to the old, accustomed lifestyle which involves just that. It’s their choice. The ones who should not have had any choice at all.
The vital statistics:
Are horrifying. Reports say that among the 200 who have been released early, there are rapists and murderers. In a span of four years, between January 2005 and till now, a total of 192 prisoners have been let go. The number of such mistakes have risen in the past two years alone by 45%. Statistics show that at this rate, at least one prisoner is released each week on an average.
Justice Minister Maria Eagles portrays the picture in grim colours. In 2005 itself, the total number of erroneous releases was 32. In 2006 and 2007, it rose to 36. 2008 saw a greater increase: 58. This year, 30 prisoners have been released before the appointed time just between the months of January and September.
That is the estimate, without counting the 1,023 prisoners of foreign nationality, whom the authorities have released without considering the possibility of deportation. That is where the stats stood between the years 1999 and 2006.
Moreover, even a bigger number of inmates are allowed free time outside their cells, and out in the open air, in fact. They are allotted community service, sometimes up to a 100 days at a time. The system of Resettlement Overnight Release that involves the release of the prisoners in the final year of their term have increased threefold in the past two years.
The lucky ones…
Are the ones who commit murders and rapes. The ones who put an end to a healthy life for millions of people and scar so many for life, literally and metaphorically. The government even has a list that contains the names of some of those whom they had allowed to go. Wonder if it acts as the albatross around the neck…
Jason Bethell was a convicted murderer whom the prison authorities decided to liberate from his confined and obviously painful existence in the cramped prison of Chelmsford, Essex. He is 31 years old and has an impressive resume replete with murders. He had been arrested for the murder of a man called John Smith, a 58 year old man. He had been remanded into custody when- no, the the police did not realize their mistake- he handed himself over within a few days of being freed.
And then there was the case of Anthony Joseph. He had killed a man called Robert Whelan in 2005. The two had a row over throwing chips at a London bus. The irony? Mere hours ago, he had been released from prison, wrongly, of course. At that very moment, there was a warrant in effect against him on the charges of attempted burglary.
Raheem Ahmed received a six months sentence after he was arrested for violent affray on the issue of the delivery of a photograph. He served only one week before he was freed. The list goes on. Bobby Philips, who was arrested for six charges of attempted murder and stayed as the Queen’s guest for only four days. Terence Clegg, who was released from jail in a case of mistaken identity. The authorities took him to be his 51 year old father who was kept in the same prison.
The blame game…
Continues. The statistics that were released came as a series of written letters to the Labours. Dominic Grieve, the shadow Justice Minister who had obtained the figures, commented on the irresponsibility of the system that allows such grave errors to go unnoticed. The number of “release upon errors” may have been minimal in comparison to the number of releases that are handled every year, but that does not minimize the risk that is posed by these free outlaws. Mr. Grieve blamed the mistakes on the fact that the prisons are becoming overcrowded with long term sentences and the staff overworked. Transfers have also become a lot more frequent.
In the end, the Labour government becomes the scapegoat. The Tories have not let go of this chance of pointing out how very inefficient and incompetent the justice system of the government is under the Labours.
Another incredible reason is that the police officers fail to calculate correctly the release dater of an inmate based on the sentence that he or she has served. They often don’t even check whether the prisoners have any outstanding sentences or ant extended ones.
And the defence…
Or rather, excuses. They are rampant. The prison officials say that the number of erroneous releases are negligible compared to the number of total releases that are handled every year. Moreover, none of these men are at large right now as they have been taken into custody as soon as the mistakes had been recognised.
What the particular official conveniently forgot at the moment is the fact that a number of these liberated criminals had not been recaptured at all. Some of them had returned of their own volition. And even if they were returned to where they belonged, that does not nullify the chances that within the period of time while they are still free, they might commit a similar crime for which they had been put behind bars in the first place, something that Anthony Joseph had sinisterly demonstrated. And it might be far more taxing to track them out a second time.
A spokesperson for Prison Services assured that the authorities are taking stringent measures to ensure that this sort of thing doesn’t continue. The issue is being taken “very seriously”, he confides. Prison managers are being asked to “tighten processes. The prison officials have been ordered to report any such incident immediately and formal investigations conducted.
Whatever. What none of these assurances do is to strengthen the deeply shaken faith in the system. Who would, after all, believe in an establishment that does not promise security?
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