Britain Today

[BIAD]

You can tell when the UK has finally fully-embraced the unenlightened model of those
from areas of the world where decorum is an unknown word. The Government's remedy
for an uncontrollable crime rate...? More prisons.

Public 'at risk' as more inmates sent to open prisons - with another manhunt under way

A woman stabbed 24 times by her ex-partner while she was still pregnant
wants violent offenders to be ineligible for transfer to open prisons.

'Public safety is "at risk" because more inmates are being sent to prisons with minimal security,
a serving governor has warned - as details emerge of another manhunt for a foreign national offender.

Mark Drury - speaking in his role as representative for open prison governors at the Prison Governors'
Association - told Sky News open prisons that have had no absconders for "many years" are now
"suddenly" experiencing a rise in cases.

It comes after a man who was serving a 21-year sentence for kidnap and grievous bodily harm absconded
from an open prison in Sussex last month. Sky News has learned that Ola Abimbola is a foreign national
offender who still hasn't returned to HMP Ford - and Sussex Police says it is working with partners to find
him.


Ola Abimbola... not what you'd call a 'family man'.

For Natalie Queiroz, who was stabbed 24 times by her ex-partner while she was eight months pregnant
with their child, the warnings could not feel starker. Ms Queiroz sustained injuries to all her major organs
and her arms, while the knife only missed her unborn baby by 2mm.
"Nobody expected either of us to survive," she told Sky News.

Babur Raja was sentenced to 18 years for attempted murder, but Ms Queiroz has recently been told that
he's set to be moved to an open prison four years earlier than planned. "Any day now, my ex who created
this untold horror is about to go to an open prison," Ms Queiroz said.

Open prisons - otherwise known as Category D jails - have minimal security and are traditionally used
to house prisoners right at the end of their sentence, to prepare them for integrating back into society.
With overcrowding in higher security jails, policy changes mean more prisoners are eligible for a transfer
to open conditions earlier on in their sentence.

"It doesn't feel right, it's terrifying, and it also doesn't feel like justice," Ms Queiroz said, wiping away tears
at points. Previously, rules stated a transfer to open prison could only take place within three years of their
eligibility for parole - but no earlier than five years before their automatic release date.

The five-year component was dropped in March last year under the previous government, but the parole
eligibility element was extended to five years in April 2025. Raja, who is due for release in 2034, has
parole eligibility 12 years into his sentence, which is 2028.

Under the rule change, this eligibility for open prison is set for this year - but under the new rules it could
have been 2023, which is within five years of his parole date. Another change, introduced in the spring,
means certain offenders can be assumed suitable for open prisons three years early - extended from two
years.

Ms Queiroz has been campaigning to prevent violent offenders and domestic abuse perpetrators from
being eligible to transfer to an open prison early. She's had meetings with ministers and raised both
her case and others. "They actually said - he is dangerous," she told Sky News. "I said to [the minister]:
'How can you make a risk assessment for someone like that?' "And they went: 'If we're honest, we can't.'"

The government told Sky News that Raja's crimes were "horrific" and that its "thoughts remain with the victim".
It also insisted the "small number of offenders eligible for moves to open prison face a strict, thorough risk
assessment" - while anyone breaking the rules "can be immediately returned". But Mr Drury describes risk
assessments as an "algorithm tick box" because of "the pressure on offender management units".

These warnings come at an already embarrassing time for the Prison Service after migrant sex offender
Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly freed last month. This week, it emerged two others have been freed in
error since then, amid new release checks.

In response to this report, the Ministry of Justice said it "inherited a justice system in crisis, with prisons
days away from collapse" - forcing "firm action to get the situation back under control". The government
has promised to add 14,000 new prison places by 2031 and introduce sentencing reforms...'

Sky News Article: