MP David Duguid writes to Scottish Government over fears HMP Grampian prisoners potentially wrongly released as a result of IT failure
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MP David Duguid has written to the Scottish Government over fears prisoners at HMP Grampian were potentially wrongly released as a result of an IT failure which created inaccurate risk assessments.
In his letter to SNP justice secretary Keith Brown, the Banff and Buchan MP has sought urgent clarification on the impact it has had on inmates based at the Peterhead jail.
Mr Duguid said residents across Banff and Buchan were “rightly concerned” after it was revealed the wrong risk level was attributed to hundreds of Scottish offenders.
More than 1,000 cases are being reviewed, and the computer system has been shut down in favour of a paper-based alternative in the meantime.
The justice secretary said 1,317 assessments had been made where scores in the system “did not match” the final risk level calculated - 1,032 of them “closed” or completed cases, dating back to 2012.
In 537 of these cases, social work teams applied an over-ride, based on professional judgement - leaving 495 which “appear to contain a risk level affected by the system error”.
Commenting Mr Duguid said: “The potential release of hundreds of dangerous criminals could have catastrophic consequences on our community which is why I’m seeking urgent clarification on the issue.
“This looks like a shocking blunder from the Scottish Government who appear to have no idea if this mistake has resulted in harm to the public.”
The letter from Mr Duguid states: “As you will know, my constituency covers Peterhead, home to HMP Grampian which houses some of the most high-risk criminals in Scotland.
“Residents are rightly concerned that this glitch may have led to dangerous criminals being assigned lower risk levels and treated accordingly when being rehabilitated into the community.
“I am therefore seeking urgent clarification that none of the affected prisoners were inmates of HMP Grampian, that none were released erroneously as a result of being scored lower on risk assessments, and none have reoffended as a result of any such release.”
