Dozens of inmates released early broke rules while in prison, figures show

The Scottish Government has been accused of “rewarding bad behaviour” in Scotland’s prisons after it emerged that 60 freed inmates had broken prison rules during their sentence.

Some 312 prisoners were released early in February and March under a scheme designed to tackle overcrowding.

But a freedom of information request by the Scottish Conservatives found around one in five of these had breached jail regulations during their time in prison.

The information, provided by the Scottish Prison Service, did not specify how the rules were broken.

Liam Kerr, the Tory justice spokesman at Holyrood, said the figures are the “latest slap in the face” to victims of crime.

He accused ministers of a “soft-touch” approach to crime, saying the SNP is pandering to criminals and failing to properly tackle the overcrowding crisis in prisons.

A poll last week found half of Scots oppose the policy of early release, with research for justice and home affairs magazine 1919 finding almost a third (30%) of those questioned are strongly opposed to the early release of prisoners, with another 20% “somewhat opposed”.

Only 8% strongly support freeing prisoners early, according to the poll, which was carried out by Survation, with 1,012 people questioned on the issue last month.

There were also 20% who said they “somewhat” support the policy, while 17% said they neither support or oppose it, and 5% did not know.

Mr Kerr said: “Scots will be furious to learn that inmates who wilfully broke prison rules are being freed by the SNP after serving less than half of their sentence.

“The nationalists’ early release plan is actively rewarding bad behaviour by prisoners.

“No wonder criminals freed on to the streets early were smirking for the waiting cameras, when they know they can do no wrong in the SNP’s eyes.

“As well as risking public safety, this is the latest slap in the face to victims from a soft-touch SNP Government that is forever pandering to offenders.

“Ministers try to justify early release on the grounds of limited prison capacity – but that issue stems from their abject failure to deliver new jails in Glasgow and the Highlands on time and on budget.”

MSPs passed legislation in November 2024 so that those sentenced to under four years in prison will now be released after serving 40% of their time behind bars. Previously they had been freed after completing half of their sentence.

Those in prison for domestic abuse or sexual offences are excluded from the early release scheme.

As of March 21 – after the third phase of releases – there were 8,149 people in custody in Scotland.

While this was down from the total of 8,350 at the end of February, it was higher than the 7,977 inmates in March 2024.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “Working with the Scottish Government and our partners, we delivered a programme of early release, in line with legislation, which prioritised the safety and wellbeing of those in our care, victims, and the communities we serve.

“This has provided welcome respite to our establishments.

“However, they continue to manage an extremely high and complex population, which places significant pressure on our staff and the time available to them to do the important work in supporting people, building relationships, turning lives around, reducing the risk of reoffending, and creating a safer Scotland for all.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The change in legislation will bring about a sustained reduction in the prison population as well as relieve some of the acute pressure currently being experienced within our prison estate.

“We need the prison system to focus on those who pose the greatest risk to the public and provide a range of support to help reduce reoffending and aid integration back into the community.

“Breaches of prison rules do not impact on a short-term prisoner’s automatic release date.”