Six prisoners have returned to Perth and Kinross after being released early from prison to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak, new figures have revealed.
Fourteen criminals have been released early from Perth Prison under emergency legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament to increase prison capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 154 inmates have been given their freedom early in the first of three phases of early release from May 6 to May 18.
Reward for information about attempt to break into vehicles at Perth repair shop
Up to 450 prisoners are eligible for early release under the terms of the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020.
It was deemed necessary in order to provide Scottish Prison Service with further capacity and allow for more single cell occupancy to keep prisoners and staff safe.
The prisoners who were sentenced up to 18 months behind bars were given their freedom under a “triple lock” set of restrictions.
The scheme was limited to prisoners who had 90 days or so left of their short sentence. Prisoners sentenced to more than 18 months were not eligible.
