Prison error kept Polish rapists & killers in Britain for YEARS costing taxpayers MILLIONS

GETTY FILE PIC

One hundred and thirty Polish offenders should have been deported years ago

Officials at the Ministry of Justice were wrongly advised that at least 130 convicts from Poland were exempt from deportation under an EU deal.

Michael Spurr, chief executive of the National Offender Management Service, admitted the error – made under Labour in 2008 – during a Justice Committee hearing on Monday.

• 

  Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe ‘wearing nappies for bedwetting’

• 

  Riot police ‘handle serious disturbance’ at Adam Johnson prison

Since it costs around £40,000 to keep one prisoner behind bars for a year, the total cost to the taxpayer of keeping the convicts banged up over the years totals tens of millions.

Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons’ Justice Select Committee slammed the mistake.

He said: “This is a pretty serious and embarrassing error. It raises huge concerns about the quality of advice ministers were getting from officials at the Ministry of Justice.

GETTY

Keeping the Polish convicts banged up has cost the taxpayer millions

“This undermines the public’s faith in the system.”

Ministry of Justice officials made the disastrous blunder after wrongly interpreting an EU policy, which came into place in 2008, requiring all European nationals sentenced to prison terms by UK courts to be deported.

At the time, Poland negotiated an exemption from the law, as the country said it needed to upgrade its prison system.

Ministers believed the exemption applied to all Polish prisoners, but in fact, those jailed for more thank four years were meant to face deportation regardless of Poland’s outdated prisons.

Since becoming aware of the blunder, ministers have been deporting the offenders.

Mr Spurr said: “We have been working with them [Poland] because we have discovered we could have transferred more prisoners back earlier.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman fired back and said it was “absolutely committed” to removing foreign national offenders from the UK.

GETTY

The Ministry of Justice is facing a hearing over why so many foreign nationals are in UK prisons

Ministers believed the exemption applied to all Polish prisoners, but in fact, those jailed for more thank four years were meant to face deportation regardless of Poland’s outdated prisons.

Since becoming aware of the blunder, ministers have been deporting the offenders.

Mr Spurr said: “We have been working with them [Poland] because we have discovered we could have transferred more prisoners back earlier.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman fired back and said it was “absolutely committed” to removing foreign national offenders from the UK.