+Sky News and the +BBC have reported that one Martin Evans, apparently Britain’s
most wanted man, has been found in South Africa and has been arrested. He is
due to face extradition proceedings before a South African Court.
Prison
authorities released him on a ‘weekend licence’ whilst he was serving a 21 year
prison sentence.
What caught my attention is that the British prison authorities had
apparently released him on a so-called ‘weekend licence’ in 2011 whilst he was
serving a 21 prison sentence.
It has been recognised by those involved in penal systems that convicts
who have served their prison sentences or who are released on parole often find
it difficult to adjust to the process of their reintegration into normal
working and family life. In an endeavour to facilitate the process of
reintegration into society, some penal systems provide for a system of gradual reintegration
for prisoners due for release or parole. This system usually comes into effect
shortly before the actual release or parole i.e. during the latter stages of
the sentence.
Gradual
reintegration takes various forms
The types of gradual reintegration of prisoners differs from system to
system and may take various forms within a system. For example, the prisoners
may be permitted to leave the prison during working hours on weekdays in order
to take up employment and/or they may be permitted to spend certain weekends at
home in order to facilitate their reintegration into family life.
Gradual reintegration
near end of incarceration makes sense
I support the concept of gradual reintegration of prisoners where it
occurs shortly before the prisoner is due for release or release on parole.
However, it makes no sense to employ gradual reintegration in circumstances
where the prisoners are repeat offenders who have committed serious crimes, or
in circumstances where a prisoner has, during his incarceration, shown no or
little hope of rehabilitation.
In cases where a prisoner has been convicted of a relatively minor
offence which justifies a short prison term, say under five years, then I would
not object to intermittent ‘weekend licences’ being granted during the second
half of their sentences provided such candidates pose no danger to society and
that they demonstrate reasonable prospects of rehabilitation.
Was Martin Evans a suitable candidate for release on ‘weekend licence’?
As soon as I heard that Martin Evans had been sentenced to serve a 21
year prison sentence, I wondered about the circumstances under which he was
granted a ‘weekend licence’. I assumed that he had been convicted and sentenced
at least sixteen or so years prior to such release (i.e. during about 1995),
and assumed further that he was justifiably found to be a suitable candidate
for such release.
Curiously, upon investigation, neither assumption was proved to be
correct.Martin Evans was convicted in 2006
I was flabbergasted to discover that Martin Evans had served less than a
quarter of his sentence when he was released on a ‘weekend licence’ from
Erlestoke Prison.
The reason why this is relevant is self-evident. A prisoner who is
released on ‘weekend licence’ towards the end of his sentence, i.e. shortly
before his release or before his release on parole, has little or no incentive
to abscond instead of returning to prison. By absconding, he would prejudice any
parole or early release to which he would be entitled, and, if caught, his
actual release date would be postponed due to an additional sentence for his
escape. Faced with a choice of returning to jail for a short time longer or
living a life on the run, most prisoners would opt for the former.
On the other hand, Martin Evans had a further sixteen years or so to
serve when he was released on ‘weekend licence.’ The temptation to abscond,
despite the hardships which a life on the run would involve, would have been
immense.
I don’t know whether the decision to permit Evans’s release on ‘weekend
licence’ in such circumstances was the result of prevailing penal policy in
Britain, or whether it was due to a decision taken by those in charge of
Erlestoke Jail. Whoever was responsible, they turned a blind eye to the obvious
risk that any long term prisoner released on weekend licence before the
majority of his or her sentence has been served, will be tempted to abscond
instead of to return to serve the remainder of the sentence.
Were there any other factors which rendered Evans unsuitable for ‘weekend licence’ at such an early stage of his sentence?
The sentence itself
Firstly, Evans was sentenced to serve twenty one years in prison. In
anybody’s language, and in almost any penal system, this would constitute a
stiff sentence. A British Court would not have handed down such a stiff
sentence unless it was of the view that the offences in question were very
serious indeed. This alone, in my view, rendered any form of gradual reintegration
or ‘weekend release’ to be improper at any stage during the first 75-80% of his
actual sentence or at the very least, during the first 75-80% of his reduced sentence,
if parole or early release becomes applicable.
Secondly –
Evans had absconded before
Evans was due to face trial in March of 2000 on charges of having
defrauded eighty seven investors out of around £900 000. He absconded a
few days prior to the trial. Apparently, at the time, he sent a fax to the
Court to advise that he would not be attending the trial.
Evans fled to Spain and later to Holland, where he masterminded a drugs
and money laundering operation during which he shipped at least £3m of ecstasy
and cocaine into Britain
Evans was only apprehended and returned to the UK in late 2001 due to a
failed attempt to enter the US on a false passport. He was apparently the victim
of increased security measures at US customs following the 9/11 attacks.
Given that Evans had absconded to avoid facing fraud charges, which
arguably may have involved anything from seven to twelve years in prison, it
was inevitable that he was likely to abscond, if offered the opportunity, to
avoid serving the remaining sixteen years of his sentence.
CURIOUS DECISION
So far, I am not aware of any critics of the manner in which Her Majesty’s
Prison service deals with ‘weekend licence’ or ‘gradual reintegration.’ This
surprises me. I wonder whether the curious case of Mr Evans will raise any
eyebrows?
SG WALTHER 04 August 2014
Sources & Credits:
MH 370
http://siegfriedwalther.blogspot.com/2014/06/mh-370-new-atsb-theory-does-not-exclude.html
AF447
http://siegfriedwalther.blogspot.com/2014/05/air-france-447-bea-whitewash-af447.html
#weekendlicenseSG WALTHER 04 August 2014
Sources & Credits:
BBC.com 16 Aug 2011; The Independent. +Jack Simpson 03 August
2014 ; BBC.com 4 August 2014 ;Sky News ;News24.com
SEE ALSO:MH 370
#extradition
#MartinEvans
#parole
#HM Prison Service
see other articles on aviation such as MH370
+Her Majesty's Prison Service
