Bail on Parole

The story of Hiro Joe shows all that is wrong with our justice system.

In 2002 he reaped a 15 year old girl. He got a miserly six year term (less than one third the maximum). Thanks to Labour’s new parole laws, he got parole after one third of the sentence – after a couple of years.

Late last year he then kidnapped someone and was arrested. Now despite still being on parole, he got bail which allowed him to flee.

If someone is out on parole, and they are charged with a serious crime, then they should not be eligible for bail and/or have their parole cancelled. But instead we have the farce where Mr Joe is on both parole and bail at the same time. No wonder he fled – couldn’t believe his luck.

Parole is a privilege, not a right. But again a prisoner is freed despite a “high risk of violent offending and a medium-high risk of sexual offending” assessment.