Prisoners can be released early
PRISONERS can be let out early after new regulations were passed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
They allow for conditions to be imposed, such as electronic tagging and monitoring, while prisoners would be recalled if they misbehaved.
The regulations came into force from 1 April.
Similar moves have been made in England and Wales where up to 4,000 prisoners are to be temporarily released from jail in an effort to try and control the spread of coronavirus.
The Ministry of Justice said the low-risk offenders would be electronically tagged and released temporarily on licence in stages.
It is seen as a way to avoid thousands of prisoners, many of whom share cells, from becoming infected.
Prisonpolicy.org wrote that prisons and jails are amplifiers of infectious diseases such as Covid-19 because the conditions that can keep diseases from spreading, such as social distancing, are nearly impossible to achieve in correctional facilities.
One of the best ways to protect vulnerable prisoners is to reduce overcrowding.
In England and Wales, 88 prisoners and 15 staff have tested positive. Three prisoners have died.
On 2 April, it was announced that nearly a quarter of a prison workforce in Northern Ireland was absent due to precautions around the Covid-19 infection and unrelated sickness.
Some sentenced prisoners were released temporarily due to the highly contagious infection, which could prove devastating in the close confines of a prison.
None were deemed to pose a risk.
In Guernsey, because these are seen as operational proceedings, Home Affairs president Deputy Mary Lowe said the acting prison governor was the most appropriate official to comment on what these new regulations mean for Guernsey.
Acting prison governor John De Carteret has been contacted for comment.
