Rapists and killers buy their own cars for day trips from open prison

Triple killer: Martyn Hughes absconded from jail using his own car before committing suicide
12 April 2012

Murderers and rapists still serving jail sentences are being allowed to drive on our roads.

More than 200 inmates, including 33 killers, have been granted the perk so they can drive themselves to and from open prisons to paid jobs in the community.

The cars are then locked in prison grounds to keep them safe from thieves and vandals.

The criminals, who also include a man guilty of rape and murder and six thugs convicted of GBH, are still supposed to be serving prison terms.

But to prepare them for a release, they are allowed to take jobs paying the minimum wage or more.

The Government has decided that they should be allowed to buy their own cars or motorbikes - often using cash saved from work completed during their time in jail.

They can store up cash to buy vehicles and pay road tax as the Prison Service does not charge for their bed and board - despite the fact that many are earning thousands.

The revelation follows Labour's decision to free thousands of convicts 18 days early to reduce prison overcrowding.

Critics pointed out that inmates could use their cars to abscond.

Tory justice spokesman Nick Herbert said: "The public will be astonished that murderers, rapists and other violent criminals are being allowed to keep cars and drive themselves out of prison on a daily basis.

"It's bad enough that the Government has released thousands of prisoners early on to our streets.

"Now we learn that offenders are being handed their car keys on the way out."

The cost of keeping an inmate behind bars is up to £32,000 a year.

Blair Gibbs, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Privileges like this - which are always defended by the prison reform lobby - make a mockery of our justice system.

"As taxes have risen, many ordinary, law-abiding families make regular sacrifices to keep a car on the road as their only mode of transport.

"It is a complete insult to taxpayers that their hard-earned money should be spent housing and feeding criminals in prison, who are then allowed the luxury of buying their own motors to cruise around in.

"Where is the justice in a system that allows murderers who are still serving their sentence the right to afford a smart new car, while millions of ordinary people who've never committed a crime can't even begin to afford the same?"

Norman Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: "Prison is supposed to be a punishment, and with that comes the loss of certain rights and privileges.

"It is quite clear the criminals have taken over the asylum. The officials behind this should be locked up.'

Earlier this month, convicted triple killer Martyn Hughes, 50, absconded from Sudbury Open Prison in Derbyshire using his own car then committed suicide in the vehicle.

In the last year, 550 prisoners including murderers and rapists have escaped from open prisons.

About 8,000 have fled in the last ten years, with the current rate standing at about 40 each month.

The Tories pointed out that the Government has moved high-risk prisoners into less crowded open prisons, as it struggles to cope with the current overcrowding crisis.

They currently house 250 prisoners risk-assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm, plus three judged at posing a high risk of very serious harm.

However, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice defended the decision.

"Prisoners entering the Open Estate are subject to rigorous risk assessment.

"The open estate regime is designed to improve the resettlement outcomes of suitable prisoners coming towards the end of longer sentences.

"The majority of prisoners travel by the appropriate transport link or prison vehicle.

"However due to the fact that open prisons are located in rural areas often with poor or non-existent public transport links in certain circumstances it makes both economic and logistical sense for prisoners to be allowed to use their own vehicles.

"Permission to use a motor vehicle to attend work placements is only allowed following a further risk assessment and this process may consider the nature of the index offence where this is deemed relevant.

"All expenses in connection with the vehicle must be met by the prisoner or the vehicle owner.

"This represents a saving to the public purse. Prisoners pay normal rate of tax if they are working in the community."

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