Section 112: Restrictions on early release subject to curfew
554.Section 112 amends section 246 of the 1991 Act which provides for early release on HDC, which includes electronic monitoring. The amendments exclude a number of categories of prisoner from the HDC scheme. They will prevent anyone serving a sentence of four years or more from being eligible for the scheme. They also make ineligible those previously released and recalled under the scheme for breach of licence conditions (during a previous or current sentence). Also excluded will be those previously returned to prison under section 116 of the PCC(S)A 2000 for committing a further offence before the expiry of a previous sentence. These changes bring the 1991 Act scheme in line with the scheme under the 1991 Act, so that the statutory provisions for HDC will be the same for all prisoners.
555.Subsection (5) inserts a new subsection (4ZA) into section 246 of the 1991 Act. This deals with concurrent and consecutive sentences for the purpose of determining whether an offender is serving a term of 4 years or more.