BRITISH PAROLE SYSTEM ALMOST AS BAD AS CALIFORNIA'S

Early prison releases in the United Kingdom work about as well as they do in the United States – They don’t work.

UK RIOTS: 600 RIOTERS WERE ON PAROLE
by Kirsty Buchanan and James Fielding

EXPRESS.co.uk
August 14, 2011

A THIRD of the rioters who brought violence and shame to Britain’s streets were on parole or subject to a community or youth rehabilitation order.

As many as 600 thugs who hurled petrol bombs at police, looted shops and torched homes, were freed early from either prison or, if under 18, a young offenders’ institute.

Most had been locked up for violent crime, including robbery, muggings and assault, and have now been recalled by prison services.

The revelation calls into question the Government’s policy of releasing prisoners halfway through their sentence regardless of whether they have been rehabilitated or not. Last night the Ministry of Justice admitted the rate of reoffending was “shamefully high”.

The Sunday Express has learned half the 1,800 rioters arrested for the violence which flared across England and left five people dead are under 18. Many were freed early from young offenders’ institutions.

Police are continuing to raid the homes of suspected troublemakers and expect arrests to climb to 2,500 by next week and 5,000 in total.

Harry Fletcher, of the National Association of Probation Officers, said: “Hundreds of these rioters are prisoners on parole. They’ve been freed from their sentence early on trust and they have grossly betrayed that trust by going on the rampage. It calls the wisdom of this policy into question.”

Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, said the news “will be a wake up call for the Government”.

He added: “It’s shocking that one of the contributory factors to the violence was that we’ve been letting these criminals back on the streets unnecessarily.” The Ministry of Justice vowed to come down hard on the louts. A spokesman said: “Offenders breaching their licence face immediate return to prison.”