Officials have admitted that 63 violent criminals, including rapists and murderers, were released from maximum security prisons straight onto Britain’s streets last year.
The revelation comes after the controversial decision by the Parole Board to clear for release in January prolific rapist John Worboys who had been jailed for an indefinite sentence “for public protection”.
The decision was overturned in March after two of his victims successfully challenged it in the High Court.
Figures disclosed to the High Court revealed that last year there were 63 violent Category A criminals who had been released from high-security prisons without spending any time in an open facility beforehand, reports The Telegraph.
Writing in his judgement to overturn Warboys’ release, Sir Brian Leveson said he was concerned about such criminals being released straight onto the streets of Britain and noted the “obvious advantages in subjecting a prisoner to regimes of lessening stringency” in assessing the risk of total release.
However, the Parole Board claimed it can be ‘safer’ to release prisoners straight into the community in ‘approved premises’ rather than moving them to open prisons.
“Our point is this happens more than once a week. It is not a shock for us to release direct from category A prisons,” a Parole Board spokesman said.
In a separate media release of data, the BBC revealed information showing that in a three month period more than 3,000 violent crime, murder, rape, and sexual offences suspects under investigation were released without condition by 12 forces alone.
The figures from April to June 2017, obtained by the broadcaster through Freedom of Information requests, found that of the suspects released, there were 768 rape suspects, 632 other suspects of sexual offences, 31 questioned on suspicion of murder, and 1,692 individuals arrested for violent crimes.
A police watchdog had warned that changes to bail limits introduced last April could endanger victims; the Home Office have now asked forces to review their use of bail.
The disclosures that violent parolees and suspects are being released exposes another failure of officials to adequately ensure the safety of Britons.
In March, Breitbart London reported that police forces across the country had lost track of nearly 500 sex offenders including paedophiles and rapists. In the same month, a Freedom of Information request found that nearly 500 foreign criminals, including violent offenders, had gone off the radar after the Home Office took too long to deport them following their release from prison.
The month prior, London’s Metropolitan Police announced that it was reviewing and clearing outstanding warrants of more than three years old across all its departments, including its child sex abuse unit, as it is struggling with the backlog in unserved warrants – meaning that violent criminals could escape justice.