HC Deb 04 April 1985 vol 76 cc1337-8
6. Sir John Biggs-Davison

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many special category prisoners remain in Her Majesty's prison, Maze, or elsewhere; and how many prisoners are held at the Secretary of State's pleasure.

Mr. Scott

There are 162 special category prisoners, all of whom are in Maze compound prison. Sixty-one persons are currently detained at the pleasure of the Secretary of State.

Sir John Biggs-Davison

Will the Northern Ireland Office seek the fullest possible particulars of the extent to which prisoners convicted of terrorism do or do not return to paramilitary activity afterwards? In the light of such particulars, will the Secretary of State review the position of the young offenders held at his pleasure?

Mr. Scott

We are engaged now in the procedure of reviewing all those serving indeterminate sentences, as the appropriate time in their sentence is reached. The prisoners have the chance to put in written representations, and their cases are eventually discussed by a life sentence review board before being considered by Ministers. Already under that procedure 10 young prisoners have had dates fixed for their release, as well as three life sentence prisoners. That procedure will continue.

My hon. Friend has put his finger on a very important matter. In coming to these decisions, the possibility of re-offence, and thus the safety of the public, has to be at the forefront of our minds.

Mr. Hume

The Minister is no doubt aware that the process that he mentioned for the setting of release dates for young prisoners held at the pleasure of the Secretary of State has been welcomed by representatives of all sides of the community. In the light of that, will he do his best to speed up the process?

Mr. Scott

We have to consider each of the cases very carefully on its merits, bearing in mind the time that the person has served, the degree of involvement in the original crime, and the behaviour of the prisoner while in prison. The final, and in many ways the paramount, consideration has to be the likelihood of re-offence.