IT IS "almost certain" that some Irish prisoners serving consecutive sentences in prisons in England and Wales will have their sentences reduced. This follows a change in the calculation of prison sentences announced by the Prison Service.
The British Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard, said yesterday that a Home Office review had uncovered "extremely regrettable" mistakes in the calculation of sentences by the Prison Service, dating back nearly 30 years.
The review found that legislation introduced by the 1967 Criminal Justice Act, which should take into account the period a prisoner serves on remand, had not been considered when their final sentence was calculated.
The error affects prisoners serving consecutive sentences for whom the period they served on remand has been taken into consideration only once, instead of for each sentence.
The Prison Service has admitted it will not be able to announce a complete recalculation of sentences until September 11th because of the volume of mistakes. Up to 5,000 prisoners in England and Wales will be eligible for early release under the review, and it is expected that compensation claims from former prisoners will run into millions of pounds.
The acting director general of the Prison Service, Mr Alan Walker, said that in the time if any prisoners felt they were being held unlawfully they should apply to the Prison Service for a sentence review.
Meanwhile, 33 prisoners have been released from Havering Jail, Cumbria, and another 60 have had their release dates brought forward.
The official figure for Irish prisoners in England and Wales is 670, of whom one in seven is serving consecutive sentences and would be eligible for a review of sentence.
Mr Harry Fletcher, the assistant secretary general of the National Association of Probation Officers, said it was "almost certain" that of 500 prisoners in England and Wales who are set to be released over the bank holiday weekend, "at least one or two must be Irish".
They are likely to be prisoners who have served "traditional sentences" for theft or burglary. He added that although there were few paramilitary prisoners in England and Wales, they would be eligible for "a discount" on their sentences, provided they are not serving a life sentence.
A spokesman for the Prison Service, Mr Bob Thomas, said the nationality of a prisoner would not be taken into consideration when recalculating a release date. "The criteria on which the Prison Service is working is based on concurrent sentences and not nationality. If a prisoner is an Irish national that won't make any difference.