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Tagged inmates committed killings Tagged inmates committed killings
(about 1 hour later)
More than 1,000 offences - including five killings - have been carried out by prisoners released early with electronic tags fitted, it has emerged. More than 1,000 crimes, including five killings, have been committed by prisoners released early with electronic tags fitted, it has emerged.
Home Office figures show tagged inmates had committed one murder and four manslaughters, among other crimes. Home Office figures show tagged inmates had committed one murder and four manslaughters, among other crimes, since the scheme began in 1999.
There have also been 56 woundings and more than 700 assaults since "Home Detention Curfew" began in 1999. Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said a balance had to be struck between rehabilitating prisoners, and public safety.
The Commons' public accounts committee, which released the figures, said tagging could still be cost effective. But the Tories said it showed a "shocking disregard for public safety".
'Shocking disregard' Under the Home Detention Curfew, prisoners can be released up to four and a half months early, as long as they wear an electronic tag.
Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "This report raises serious issues about the way tagging is being used. With so many serious offences being committed it is clear the government is showing a shocking disregard for public safety." There has to be a punishment, as far as the sentence is concerned, but there has to be rehabilitation as well Gerry Sutcliffe
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "Dealing with offenders means it is vital that we get tagging right. MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Commitee said it cost £70 a day less to enforce a curfew, than keep people in jail.
"Once again, flaws in the system can be laid squarely at the government's feet for failing to implement the system competently in practice." But chairman Edward Leigh said too many crimes were being committed by people released early with tags, and not enough information was getting back to the prison governors who made the decision to release them.
But Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "Compared with the soaring reconviction rates for all those leaving our overcrowded jails and the cost to the public purse of more than £11bn a year from reoffending, the HDC makes sound economic sense." Me Sutcliffe, a Home Office minister, said fewer than 4% of people with tags reoffended - compared with 67% released as usual without tags.
The committee said more prisoners should be electronically tagged and released from jail early in an effort to save money. He denied the figures meant little because those considered suitable to be released early with tags were less likely to re-offend anyway.
Enforcing a curfew using a tag costs £70 less a day than jail, the committee said. Soaring prison population
But it should be used as an alternative to custody "only if there is minimal risk to the public", said chairman Edward Leigh. "Most people see it as a good scheme to help them back into society," he told the BBC.
The system is stuttering along at present. Most prisons have no direct access to criminal records on the Police National Computer Edward LeighPublic Accounts Committee "There has to be a punishment, as far as the sentence is concerned, but there has to be rehabilitation as well."
Mr Leigh said releasing selected prisoners and imposing an electronically monitored curfew was "a cost-effective alternative to custody". He denied government policy coping with Britain's soaring prison population was "a mess" - and said 19,000 new prison places had been created since 1997, with a further 8,000 announced in July.
Better information had to be shared between prisons, police and other agencies to allow quicker and more accurate safety checks. This week the prison population reached a record 79,843 at the weekend with, in theory, just 125 more spaces left.
Mr Leigh said: "The system is stuttering along at present. Most prisons have no direct access to criminal records on the Police National Computer. Home Secretary John Reid has outlined a series of measures to relieve pressure on prisons - including freeing up 500 spaces in police cells from Thursday.
"Prisoners who are moved between prisons are not accompanied by their assessment records. Supervising persistent offenders in the community, with or without a tag, is disastrous for the public David FraserFormer senior probation officer
'Maximum flexibility' It is not clear whether they will be needed yet, as Mr Sutcliffe said the number of prisoners had been "reduced" this week.
"These and other factors often delay the release of eligible prisoners well beyond their eligibility date." Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "Compared with the soaring reconviction rates for all those leaving our overcrowded jails and the cost to the public purse of more than £11bn a year from reoffending, the Home Detention Curfew makes sound economic sense."
The National Audit Office has found the average amount of time which lapses between the start of eligibility for parole and actual release is 27 days. For the Conservatives, shadow home secretary David Davis said the report raised serious questions about the way tagging was being used.
The prison population reached a record 79,843 at the weekend with, in theory, just 125 more spaces left. "With so many serious offences being committed it is clear the government is showing a shocking disregard for public safety."
Home Secretary John Reid has said up to 500 places would be made available in police cells by Thursday. And Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said flaws in the tagging system could be "laid squarely at the government's feet for failing to implement the system competently in practice".
On Tuesday, he outlined plans to pay prisoners from outside Europe a package of up to £2,500 to leave the UK. Former senior probation officer David Fraser said the government should abandon tagging altogether.
A Home Office spokesman said the deal would not include cash handouts. "Supervising persistent offenders in the community, with or without a tag, is disastrous for the public," he said.
"The public need to be protected from crime. It is absolutely amazing that [the government] are able, somehow, to ignore this. What must happen? They are sleepwalking into civil unrest, in my view."