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   Justice Secretary drops early release for prisonersA programme that allowed some prisoners to be released early from prison is to be brought to a close on March 12, Jack Straw has announced.
Speaking in the Commons this afternoon, the justice secretary said that the rise in available prison places meant that the end of custody licence (ECL) scheme could be scrapped. Under the scheme which has been in operation since June 2007, some prisoners were eligible to be released 18 days earlier than would otherwise be the case. "While necessary as a temporary measure, it was inherently unsatisfactory and potentially damaging to public confidence in the justice system," Straw said. "Therefore I told this House I would bring ECL to an end as soon as judged it was safe to do so." "We are now at that point, we are there because we have worked hard to increase capacity of the prison estate," he added. Straw told MPs no prisoners would be released under the scheme from April 10. Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve welcomed the move, but said the Tories had been calling for the scheme to be scrapped for some time. He said the government's failure to provide adequate prison places had led to the release 80,000 criminals early, including 15,000 violent offenders and two terrorists. "Those released went on to commit 1,500 crimes, including several rape and murder offences," he added. Source: epolitix.com Copyright: Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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