Episode 14 - Release

After some tearful farewells Crystal has finally left G wing behind to be reunited with Josh and baby Zandra. Much to her surprise she was released 10 days early, a decision made by Governor Neil Grayling. It looked as though this was partly a response to her attempts to persuade her fellow prisoners to turn their backs on Jesus - though she might not have been successful given that Jesus seems to have Snowball on his side. This kind of early release at the Governor's discretion is only available at Larkhall. More information on the complicated business of calculating release dates appears at the end of this factsheet. Those who enjoy complicated sums may wish to skip forward to that part, but it has been put at the end to stop non-mathematicians getting bored and giving up.

Prisoners are usually released early in the morning (before 8.45am) and releases only take place from Monday to Friday, so prisoners whose release date falls on a weekend or Bank Holiday are released on the last weekday before their release date. The release process involves the prisoner being given back any private property they have had in prison storage while they have been in prison and any money they have had sent in or earned, checking it, being given a travel warrant to the place they have said they are going to live, and a discharge grant.

The discharge grant is equivalent to one week's social security benefit, so prisoners who are going out without any accommodation receive a higher grant than those returning to a family or other home. Released prisoners who are unemployed can then claim benefit like anyone else, but because the benefits system pays people fortnightly, one week in arrears and one in advance, prisoners have to wait a fortnight until they can receive any money. It is now widely acknowledged that giving ex-offenders one week's money to last two weeks does not provide a good start to a crime-free life and this may well change in the near future.

After release ex-prisoners often have problems adjusting. Those who have been in prison for a long time find the pace of life outside, traffic, children, mixing with the opposite sex, handling money and managing their time, without being told what to do when, difficult. Some even find themselves waiting for someone to open doors for them, because in prison each internal door or gate is locked. Even short term prisoners can find it tough. In prison they may imagine home and relationships in rather rosy terms, and the reality is sometimes hard to cope with. Simply fitting back into family life can be difficult if the family has had to find ways of coping during the sentence - ex-prisoners often feel as if they have lost their role. There may also be resentment about the offence and all that has followed which has been buried during the sentence because everyone is at pains to make visits as pleasant as possible. Recent figures from the Howard League for Penal Reform show that more than 50 people every year kill themselves shortly after leaving prison.

Drug dealers are well aware that release from prison is a daunting experience and that even those who have been through drug treatment programmes may be tempted as the prison gate closes behind them. They can often be found hanging around looking for customers at release time.

For others, like Crystal, release is a joyful occasion when they can be reunited with partners and families and look forward to the rest of their lives. But what was in that parcel from Di Barker? Perhaps we will never know.

Release dates
Calculating release dates is complicated. All convicted prisoners except those serving life sentences are given information about their release dates within 24 hours of being sentenced.

Prisoners serving less than 12 months are automatically released at the half way point of their sentences unless they have extra days added for disciplinary offences in the prison. On release they are not supervised by the Probation Service, but they remain 'at risk' until the sentence expires on the last date of the sentence. If any further offences are committed during the 'at risk' period then the remainder of the sentence can be added to any new sentence imposed for the new offences.

Prisoners serving 12 months or over but les than 4 years are automatically released at the halfway point of the sentence (unless, as before, days have been added), but they are supervised by a probation officer until the three-quarters point of the sentence, and remain 'at risk' until the end of the sentence. This means someone given a two year sentence would be automatically released after one year, would be supervised by a probation officer for six months (until 18 months after sentence) and would then be 'at risk' for six months until the two years was up. The supervision involves regular contact with the probation officer and may also mean that the released prisoner has to live at a particular address and not contact certain named people.

Prisoners sentenced to more than 3 months but less than 4 years who have not been convicted of violent or sex offences and pass a risk assessment are released up to two months before the halfway point of their sentences with electronic tags. This is known as Home Detention Curfew (HDC). They have to abide by a curfew which can last up to 12 hours each day, and this is electronically monitored. If they breach it they can be returned to prison.

Prisoners sentenced to 4 years or more, but not life imprisonment, can be released at the half way point of their sentence only if the Parole Board recommends it. The Parole Board's main concern is public protection and they have access to a range of reports about the offence, the views of any victims, and progress the prisoner has made in prison. If they agree then the prisoner can be released, but will be supervised by a probation officer and may have additional conditions about where s/he will live and work, people not to be contacted etc. If they do not agree to immediate release the case is reviewed at yearly intervals until the two thirds point is reached, at which prisoners serving these longer sentences are released (unless they have added days to serve) and are supervised until the three quarters point. So someone serving a six year sentence could be granted conditional release at three years, if the Parole Board did not agree to conditional release then they would be released at four years and be supervised by a probation officer for six months until they reached the two thirds point. They would then remain 'at risk' until the six years was finished.