Risdon Prison inmate released five months early

A POTENTIALLY dangerous inmate spent five months in the community before authorities realised a bureaucratic mistake had seen him released early.

Seven prisoners have been released early from Risdon Prison in the past two years.

A POTENTIALLY dangerous inmate spent five months in the community before authorities realised a bureaucratic mistake had seen him released early.

Details of seven prisoners wrongly set free since 2015 have been released under a right to information request by the Mercury.

But the State Government has refused to identify what crimes they committed or their seriousness, saying it could breach the inmates’ privacy.

This is despite the Government routinely releasing prisoner information – including names, addresses and criminal records – in parole board decisions and court sentences.

Correction Minister Vanessa Goodwin was quick to go into damage control, issuing a statement an hour after the information was released.

Dr Goodwin, who has presided over a tumultuous period for the prison service – including hostage taking and deaths in custody – admitted the incorrect releases were a result of long-standing problems.

“It is clear that these administrative errors are the result of long-term process issues within the justice system,” she said.

The Mercury exposed the bungles in July, reporting that four prisoners had been incorrectly released, including an inmate who spent an extra four months behind bars.

One inmate, a 31-year-old man convicted of family violence offences, was released two weeks early.

It wasn’t until the man’s estranged wife alerted authorities that they realised he had been mistakenly set free.

Dr Goodwin personally apologised to the victim. Despite the oversight, the man was never made to serve his remaining sentence.

Armed robber Damien Harris was mistakenly released one year before his jail term expired.

Another two inmates were released about two months before their correct dates. One spent a month on the outside before being returned to jail.

According to the document, the prisoners were mistakenly released because of incorrect sentence processing, interpretation, calculation and “transmission”.

Labor shadow attorney-general Lara Giddings said the mistakes showed the prison system was under stress.

Dr Goodwin said the bungles were “unacceptable”.

“I have directed that an audit be undertaken to understand the inadequacies and improve compliance with the processes,” she said.