TOO RISKY TO BE FREE

GOVERNORS BLOCK HALF OF EARLY RELEASE LAGS

- BY MARY WRIGHT

PRISON governors blocked nearly half of all inmates set to be freed early under a government scheme, ruling them too high risk, figures have revealed.

The Scottish Prison Service released 286 prisoners from November 11 to December 13 to ease the overcrowding crisis.

However, jail bosses vetoed 40 per cent equivalent to 187 inmates deemed eligible after considering them to be "an immediate risk of harm" to an individual or group.

In spite of this, 127 of the 286 freed - or 44 per cent, the largest share of the total had convictions for violence, data shows.