Carrie Hyde
Associate Solicitor
Associate Solicitor Carrie Hyde has recently featured on Times Radio, discussing the Government’s position on the prisoner early release scheme.
Whilst the government have indeed u-turned and will now be preventing perpetrators of certain major crimes from being released under this scheme, it appears that the government have overlooked certain crimes that fall under the domestic abuse category, leaving victims at risk, with their abusers likely to be back at large earlier than expected.
Associate Solicitor Carrie Hyde spoke to Times Radio about her concerns that even with the recent changes to the government’s prison early release scheme dangerous perpetrators of domestic abuse and stalking would still qualify for early release potentially putting victims at risk of further violence.
She urged any victims concerned about their safety to contact Watson Ramsbottom for advice in relation to protective orders for themselves and their children
You can listen to Carrie’s insight from the 1 hour 8 minutes mark here
We also managed to speak to Carrie on the matter & you can read what she had to say below
After having heard the government’s updating position on the prisoner early release scheme, victims of domestic abuse are once again overlooked, as the potential for their perpetrator’s early release becomes a reality.
Those who are in prison for domestic abuse related offences, such as criminal damage, slip through the gaps of the early release assessment, as their offences are minimised because they are not considered in the context of the pattern of behaviour of domestic abuse.
There is not criminal offence for domestic abuse, meaning that victims are feeling let down by the criminal justice system, often having waited years of torment and the unknown, to even get to a point of safety where the perpetrator is imprisoned.
Being a victim of domestic abuse often does not end when the relationship ends, and now victims are being told that their safety is being compromised as a result of an administrative and capacity issue within the prison system.
Victims call for a greater assessment of these offences to be considered for those subject to potential early release and to prioritise the risk that this poses to victims and their children, over an easy route of early release for these so called “lesser” offences.
