Early release has led to Scottish prisons being more crowded

SCOTLAND'S prison population is now higher than it was before the SNP's controversial early release scheme, new figures have shown.

- By Ben Borland

More than 300 inmates — half of whom were serving sentences for violent crimes — were freed in February and March to ease overcrowding in jails.

Beforehand, the total prison population stood at 8,326.

Kneejerk

Yesterday, figures showed it had climbed to 8,359. A Scottish Government forecast suggested it could hit a record 8,750 by the year end — topping the highest figure ever recorded, when there were 8,420 people behind bars in 2012.

Last year, almost 500 inmates who had served at least 50% of their sentence were released.