One prisoner in 10 is a former soldier, according to research by the National Association of Probation Officers and the Howard League for Penal Reform. Early findings suggest that a lack of education and poverty conspire to trap ex-servicemen in a vicious circle of offending.
NAPO estimates that 8,500 former service personnel are currently in prison – 10 per cent of the total jail population – and far in excess of the Ministry of Justice’s own estimate of 2,500 people. The Howard League has been conducting its inquiry ahead of publication of its report in time for Armistice Day next November.
Those who have attended the sessions include several former service chiefs including Admiral Boyce, the former head of the armed forces, and General Guthrie, former head of the Army, and it also heard from the SAS soldier turned author Andy McNab. Andrew Neilson, assistant director of the
Howard League, said the inquiry is trying to establish the extent to which former soldiers are in the prison system because of the pressures of active service and the extent to which the real culprit is actually poverty.
“The army traditionally finds recruits from disadvantaged communities and many will return to those communities on leaving the services”, he said. Meanwhile the Howard League has also
launched a joint research project with the Prison Governors’ Association and NAPO to promote alternatives to short prison sentences. Frances Crook, director of the Howard League, said: “Short custodial sentences are a costly and wasteful response to complex human problems that need solving. Short sentences create more crime; they don’t create solutions or safety.
“Upon arrival, prisoners on short sentences are handed their induction papers along with their release forms. Nothing constructive can happen when a prisoner lies on a squalid bunk bed for three weeks. “In contrast, community sentences force people to make amends for their wrongdoing
and have a success rate of two-thirds.
“Not only are community sentences more effective, they also save money. Lower re-offending leads to lower costs for victims and criminal justice agencies further down the line.”
