Gordon highlights scandal of prisoner escapes.

Gordon Henderson has written to the Home Secretary, Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP, in an attempt to find out how many prisoners who have absconded from Sheppey’s Standford Hill open prison have been recaptured. Mr Henderson has also asked Mr Clarke how many prisoners housed in Standford Hill should be housed in more secure prisons.

Mr Henderson’s letter follows the release of Government figures that show that 294 prisoners have escaped from Standford Hill since 1999 and the Government’s refusal to say how many of those prisoners were ever returned to the prison to complete their sentence.

Gordon said:

‘I have written to the Home Secretary because I was appalled to learn that almost three hundred prisoners have absconded from Standford Hill since 1999. Almost two thirds of those prisoners escaped during the past two years. I suspect this dramatic increase is a direct result of Government complacency.

‘I was particularly alarmed to learn that the Government apparently has no idea how many of those prisoners has ever been recaptured. What on earth are they playing at? How can you run a prison service if you have no idea how many prisoners you actually have?

‘It is bad enough that Labour’s answer to overcrowding is to release prisoners early, but this complacent approach to abscondees is totally unacceptable. If the Government is doing nothing to recapture prisoners, no wonder the number of prisoners absconding is rising so dramatically. Ministers are simply giving prisoners the green light to escape!

‘I am concerned also about rumours that because of the lack of prison places, more dangerous prisoners are being housed in Standford Hill than would otherwise be the case, so I have asked the Home Secretary to provide me with the numbers involved.’

…ends…

Encl:     Copy of letter to Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP

            Copy of the parliamentary answer given by the Government.

            More Police: Cleaner Hospitals: Lower Taxes: School Discipline: Controlled Immigration.

Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP

Home Secretary

50 Queen Anne’s Gate

London

SW1H 9AT                                                                                                                 6^th January 2005

Dear Mr Clarke

A recent parliamentary question revealed that 294 prisoners have absconded from Standford Hill Open Prison since 1999. This is worryingly high number, particularly since two thirds of those prisoners absconded during the last two years!

Unfortunately, the Government has refused to say how many of these prisoners are still at large, and how many have been returned to Standford Hill to complete their sentences. The excuse given is that it would be too costly to obtain the figures for prisoners who remain unlawfully at large. As a resident of Sheppey, I know that I speak for my fellow Islanders when I say that this is unacceptable.

We have three prisons on Sheppey and Islanders have always accepted the presence of large numbers of prisoners because they were assured that measures had been put in place to minimise escapes. To see an increase of absconders from 26 in 1999 to 98 in 2003 does not fill us with confidence!

There are also rumours that because of a shortage of prison places more dangerous prisoners are being housed in Standford Hill than might otherwise be the case. If this is indeed so, the thought of such a dramatic increase in absconders becomes even more alarming.

In the circumstances I would be grateful for answers to the following questions:-

1)      How many of the 294 prisoners who absconded from Standford Hill since 1999 have been recaptured?

2)      How many prisoners are housed in Standford Hill of a category that would normally be housed in a more secure prison?

I await your reply with interest.

Yours sincerely

GORDON HENDERSON

Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate

Sittingbourne & Sheppey

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have absconded from each prison in each of the last five years; and how many have not been recovered. [199976]

Paul Goggins: A list of the number of prisoners absconding from open prisons and semi-open prisons in each of the last five years is set out in the table.

-Figures for those prisoners who remain unlawfully at large cannot be obtained other than at disproportionate cost.

(Hansard, 13 December 2004, Col. 844W)

-In Labour’s 1997 manifesto, they promised ‘to ensure that prison regimes are constructive and require inmates to face up to their offending behaviour’ (Labour Party 1997 manifesto, p. 23).

Letter Page 2005