A reformed ex-prisoner has been recalled to jail for missing an appointment with her probation officer – 20 years ago.
The woman was hauled back to HMP Downview and ordered to serve another 12 weeks after skipping the meeting two decades ago.
Prison watchdogs blasted the jail for the delay, pointing out the unnamed mother had cleaned up her life in the years since the breach but lost her job when she was recalled.
The incident happened within the last 12 months but has only now come to light as the Independent Monitoring Board suggested it was a poor use of stretched resources when many prisons are full to breaking point.
Inspectors found the jail in Banstead, Surrey, was transferring women to an open prisons as a ‘knee-jerk, short-term’ solution to population pressure.
However, their report noted: ‘We monitored the case of a woman who was transferred to Downview on recall for just 12 weeks. The recall was for a breach of a licence condition (failure to attend her probation appointment), which had taken place 20 years prior to her recall to Downview.
‘The woman had not committed any further offences in that time and was now a mother, with school-age children and secure employment.
‘She lost her job in the community while in Downview and was not allocated any work or other activities during her time in the prison.
‘We query whether this is a sensible use of a prison place in the middle of acute population pressure, and also of His Majesty’s Prison Service resources generally.’
The report also stated there is a ‘large churn’ of prisoners at the jail, meaning more women coming and going through its doors – meaning many couldn’t be given the attention they needed by prison workers.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and they can be recalled to prison for breaching them.’