Calls to release prisoners after 55 test positive for coronavirus

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A total of 55 UK prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19, as ministers are urged to release inmates during the pandemic.

The Ministry of Justice has announced 18 prison staff and four prison escort staff have also been struck with the virus, while 3,500 employees – a tenth of the workforce – are currently off self-isolating. Staff numbers are already stretched and the pressure of the pandemic is becoming too much for some prisons to handle.

It comes after all jails in England and Wales were put on lockdown with visits cancelled. Inmates are now generally locked up and only allowed to access showers, phones and exercise with social distancing restrictions in place.

Pressure is being put on Justice Secretary Robert Buckland to allow convicted criminals to head home, in order to prevent more deaths in England and Wales’ crowded prisons. It comes after Northern Ireland signalled it would let out more than 10% of those behind bars.

As of Thursday, 27 prisoners had tested positive for coronavirus in 14 prisons, with two deaths in Manchester and Cambridgeshire. The first was convicted paedophile Edwin Hillier, who was serving his sentence at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire – confirmed on March 22.

In the face of strengthening calls for action by human rights groups and a prisons watchdog, Downing Street has signalled that some ‘vulnerable’ prisoners could be set free for a time to protect them.

The pressure comes after Northern Ireland justice minister Naomi Long announced the temporary early release of up to 200 prisoners, and Scotland’s justice secretary Humza Yousaf said on Friday that he was ‘actively considering’ options for the early release of prisoners.

The Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) said prisons should be only for ‘serious and violent offenders’ at this time, with judgments made on a ‘case-by-case basis’.

‘Ministers and officials are faced with some of the most difficult decisions they have ever had to make, about balance of risk and the best ways to keep people safe,’ said an IAPDC spokesman.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow…