Loophole Allowing UK Soldiers Accused of Rape to Be Released

Recent reports have shed light on the difficulties facing the prison system in the UK. Britain’s Inspectorate of Prisons has reported that a gap in the law is allowing members of the British Armed Forces convicted of sexual offences and other violent crimes to be released into the public without further supervision from corrective authorities.

In comments to the British Independent newspaper, Chief Inspector Peter Clarke explained that the “Military Corrective Training Center” does not have the statutory authority to continue managing its ex-inmates after their sentences have expired.

“This arose because of a statutory anomaly that does not include the military in the arrangements that apply to non-military offenders on release. This meant that the few offenders being released into the community who presented a high risk of harm to others were being released without proper supervision or risk-management,” he said.

While the Inspectorate claimed that only a small proportion of military inmates represented any threat to the community, it has recommended to the Department of Defense that the law be changed to require that military ex-inmates should be subject to the same supervision while on probation as ordinary detainees.

In January 2018 the internal state of the prison system in the United Kingdom was revealed when whistleblowers speaking to Sputnik revealed conditions described as representing “humanitarian crisis."