Dartmoor Prison release of inmates 'rushed and poor'

Dartmoor Prison has been accused of unplanned, rushed and poor provision for inmates, who’ve committed sexual offences.

It's been revealed that most of the prisoners in Dartmoor, one of the UK's oldest jails built in 1809, are sex offenders. A report by inspectors says the prisons not preparing them well for release - and more than 200 will be let out next year. They say there's significant risk to the public. 

Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons (HMIP) showed 70% of the 633 inmates at the Devon prison are sex offenders. The number of sex offenders has doubled over four years as a proportion of Dartmoor's population to about 440 at the time of the August 2017 inspection. There were also a substantial number of men serving long sentences for violence. 

Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said "This was a shocking and totally unacceptable situation, given the generally high-risk population being released from Dartmoor."

More than 200 men had been released in the past 12 months, and an even higher number of releases was expected next year.

Peter Clarke continued, "Over 200 men in the year leading up to the inspection had been released from the prison. Our projections indicated the number would be even higher next year. In addition, offender management provision did not ensure that men received support to reduce the risks of harm they might pose to the public on release, or that release planning for the highest-risk men was timely or comprehensive. This was a shocking and totally unacceptable situation, given the generally high-risk population being released from Dartmoor.”

Read the full report here:

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/12/Dartmoor-Web-2017.pdf