Prisoners on early release “reoffend to escape homelessness”

“If it gets a lot colder I’m thinking of doing something, just going back to prison,” says Leon Lear, 43, sitting next to the remains of his failed fire at the edge of a playing field in Bridgend, England. South Wales. .

The wood was too wet to burn; the only ashes come from cardboard from a nearby recycling bin. A damp sleeping bag hangs over the railing.

Leon is on early release from prison, but he would have preferred to stay in prison. He says that instead of celebrating, he began to worry as his release date approached, knowing he would be homeless and that outside literally meant that – outside.

He said: “Because I was released five weeks early, the probation and housing officers had no idea I was going to be released. ​​They told me I would be on a waiting list for housing. So, since then, I’ve been living on the streets.”

Leon was jailed for affray in June this year, released five weeks early but left homeless in July. He was recalled for a license violation for shoplifting in September and released again two weeks ago. How much longer before he goes back inside?

He is one of the 13% of prisoners in England and Wales who are released into homelessness and the Chief Inspector of Probation says lack of accommodation is the main factor in people reoffending or breaching their permit.

Recalled prisoners are the fastest growing portion of our overcrowded prison population, doubling in a decade.

Leon is wearing two t-shirts that he stole that morning. He says he’s not proud of it but it’s what he has to do to survive. “I don’t even have any underwear,” he said. “I know it’s embarrassing, but this is how I have to live.”

His only possessions are a toothbrush and toothpaste in the pocket of a tracksuit given to him by a local charity.

For a time he lived with heroin addicts, but this allowed him to return to drugs after three years of abstinence. So now he’s on the street and goes to the methadone drug clinic every day, so he doesn’t use it.

“I already spent a winter without shelter and it’s horrible,” he says. “Last night I was thinking about breaking a window or acting drunk, just to go to the police station to have a hot meal on the blanket and stay in a safe place. I would rather be in prison than live like this any longer .”

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This is despite the fact that he describes the prison as being locked up 23 hours a day with mice in his cell.

Léon visits an awareness center in the city called BARC. In addition to hot drinks and meals, they provide clothing, tents and help with doctor appointments and classes.

Demand for these services has doubled in a year, largely due to the early release program.

Founder Becky Lloyd, 45, says: “A lot of these guys deliberately reoffend to go back to prison because they have nowhere else to go. At least if we can try to support them, we can try to avoid this. . But winter is coming, they don’t want to be in a tent, they prefer to be in prison. »

We meet another man who has just been released early and has been living in a tent for three weeks.

He told us: “It’s harder here than being in prison. Because you have three meals a day there and a roof over your head. Here you have to come to places like this to get fed, you know, beg, borrow or steal.

The center relies on donations and much of the work is self-funded by Becky and co-founder Teresa Wilkie. Although this enterprise seems somewhat hopeless, success is embodied in one of the workers.

Ffion Evans, 25, used crack cocaine for three years and heroin for seven years. When she was released from prison in December last year, she found herself homeless and turned back to her addiction. But when she became pregnant, she was able to change her life.

Wearing a T-shirt with the words “actually I can”, she said: “I started coming here, they supported me and showed me that I was worth it and that I could do it. TO DO.

“Now I’ve been sober for months, I’m a support volunteer, so I have a career ahead of me. It’s awesome. This is the best version of me I’ve ever been. I wouldn’t have could do it without these people.”

Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones told Sky News: “What we know is that if people do not have secure accommodation when they are released, they are more likely to be recalled to detention following a violation of the conditions of their license. or even reoffend. I think (providing housing) is probably the most important part of releasing a prisoner.

Tom Hollick of The Wallich, which provides council-funded support to homeless people in Bridgend, said: “According to the latest data across Wales, more than 11,000 people are in temporary accommodation and more plus more people show up all the time.

“So this is a bottleneck in the system, and people coming out of prison are just exacerbating the existing crisis.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The new government inherited a justice system in crisis, with homelessness levels far too high and an early release program which did not allow enough time for probation staff to prepare prisoners for release.

“Our new system allows staff to better prepare offenders for life after prison and we are working with partners, including local councils and charities, to prevent them being released back onto the streets.”

(c) Sky News 2024: Prisoners on early release ‘reoffend to escape homelessness’