The yo-yo provison of 50% remission for prisoners in Northern Ireland should be reconsidered, argues Rosemary Craig
In the early days of the Troubles (the 1970s) there were five prisons in for a population of just over one-and-a-half million. Today there are three and the prison population stands at around 1,550 for a population of one-and-threequarter million.
50% REMISSION
What is not generally known is that all offenders jailed in automatically qualify for 50% remission of their sentence. Dangerous sex offenders, who should be kept away from the vulnerable in society, are being released after serving a relatively short time in prison. The 50% remission does not have to be earned—it is applied as a right. Time spent in custody starts the 50% remission clock ticking immediately. The recent release of convicted sex offender, Eamon Foley, who served eight years of a 16- year sentence for the rape of 91-year-old Mary- Anne McLoughlin, who died four weeks after the attack, caused public outrage. In another case an early-released sex offender—Trevor Hamilton—went on to murder Attracta Harron, a 65-year-old retired schoolteacher.
