Former prisons chief Lord Ramsbotham calls for early release for inmates during coronavirus pandemic

Prisoners serving short sentences should be released early to help overcrowded jails cope with coronavirus, a former chief inspector of prisons said.

Lord Ramsbotham is “very worried” about the effect of Covid-19 on the country’s detention centres and warned that prison staff depleted by the virus would not be able to handle the crisis.

He made his comments in a letter to The Daily Telegraph written with a cross-party coalition of 50 fellow members of the House of Lords, police and crime commissioners, leading academics and charities, who all urged ministers to suspend short jail sentences.

It came as it was announced that a third prisoner had died after contracting Covid-19.

“The remand prisoners, in particular, should be let out,” Lord Ramsbotham said.

“They should also examine indeterminate sentence prisoners.”

The peer added the jail system now suffered from an acute lack of experienced officers since it had lost the equivalent of 80,000 years of operational expertise through staff cuts.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has sanctioned the early release of 69 pregnant women and mothers and babies from jails, but has resisted calls for the release of short-term prisoners.

Andrea Albutt, the president of the Prison Governors’ Association, told the Telegraph: “Prisons are now at the point where a decision must be made and implemented immediately on early release.”

Three prisoners have died after contracting coronavirus since the outbreak began.

The latest death involved a 77-year-old man, who was serving at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire.

He died in hospital on Friday and had a number of underlying health conditions, officials said.

The inmate was the second from HMP Littlehey to die after testing positive for coronavirus, after convicted paedophile Edwin Hillier, 84, died in hospital on March 22.

A 66-year-old male inmate at HMP Manchester died in hospital on March 26 after contracting coronavirus.

As of 5pm on Monday, 65 inmates had tested positive for coronavirus in 23 prisons, the Ministry of Justice said.