HC Deb 27 March 1980 vol 981 cc674-6W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will now give a release date for Mr. Jimmy Boyle;

(2) if there are or were any special conditions on the parole of Mr. Jimmy Boyle; and, if so, what they are and what is the reason for them;

(3) if he will set out, in full, the reasons for his refusal to allow Mr. Jimmy Boyle out on parole at weekly intervals;

(4) if he will give an assurance that every effort will be made to secure the rehabilitation of Mr. Jimmy Boyle; how this is to be achieved, and if he will make a statement;

(5) if he will make a comprehensive statement on his policy towards the parole and release of Mr. Jimmy Boyle.

Mr. Rifkind

I take the hon. Member's references to parole to relate to Mr. Boyle's outside visits, as no parole has been granted. Permission has been given to Mr. Boyle to leave the Barlinnie special unit, under escort, for specific purposes on a number of occasions in recent years. These occasions have all been related to his artistic work, and it is hoped that such visits will assist in Mr. Boyle's rehabilitation.

In addition, Mr. Boyle has recently undertaken a number of shopping visits under escort to buy supplementary foodstuffs and artistic materials on behalf of the unit. Such visits are part of the unit's regime.

The shopping visits and the other outside visits are planned in discussion with the governor. On two occasions irregular and unauthorised incidents took place during shopping visits. As well as leading to considerable publicity, these incidents were, in general, harmful to the special unit. In the circumstances, my right hon. Friend decided to re-examine the arrangements for shopping visits and until that is done such visits have been suspended. This does not affect the other outside visits which Mr. Boyle may make and such visits may still be authorised.

My right hon. Friend's policy towards the release on licence of Mr. Boyle is the same as it is towards any other life sentence prisoner. The case of each life sentence prisoner is carefully monitored at all stages in his sentence and at a certain stage comes within the formal review procedure. This continues at regular intervals until, after consultation with the judiciary and in the light of the Parole Board's views, the Secretary of State feels able to fix a provisional release date, usually one to two years ahead, and a pre-release programme to prepare the prisoner for return to the community.