Local Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall has written to Ministers this week to urge the Ministry of Justice to look into recent incidents of absconding from local category D prison HMP Leyhill. Prompted by two incidents of absconding by two inmates in recent weeks with a total of 5 inmates absconding in 2015, Local MP Luke has written to the Prisons Minister Andrew Selous MP to ask for reassurances that the safety of the public in the area is at the forefront to the decisions evaluating which inmates serve their sentences at the prison.
Highlighting two recent incidents of offenders absconding whilst serving sentences for Sexual offences and Murder, Luke has urged the Department to look into both the category of prisoners that are allowed to serve sentences at HMP Leyhill as well as investigating the measures currently in place that prevent inmates from ignoring their conditions.
MP Luke Hall said:
“After the concerning news of another inmate described as High Risk absconding from Leyhill I wanted to make the Minister aware of the frequency at which this is happening and the concerns of local people on this matter. It is important that if prisoners are evaluated as high risk, then I do not believe they should be in a category D facility so close to public. I have also highlighted the unnecessary pressure this places on local police resources when an incident like this happens”.