Sturgeon admitted "there are lessons to be learned" from the case but continued to defend the principle of permitting prisoners
home leave as part of their rehabilitation.
A spokesman for the Prison Service added: "All prisoners granted
home leave at Christmas have been subject to a satisfactory risk assessment and have either successfully completed a
home leave programme or undergone periods of unaccompanied testing in the community.
The judge expressed anger at the decision to grant Rafiq
home leave, saying: "He should be sitting here in custody, in the dock.
Other prisoners get sentences more than halved and get
home leave, why not Michael?
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Key stakeholders have today been informed that the National Offender Management Service is making preparations for transitional
home leave.
Philip Parfitt, 44, who is serving a four-and-a-half-year jail sentence for grievous bodily harm, failed to return to HM Prison Prescoed after a spell of
home leave.
Mourners packed a church yesterday for the funeral of a young soldier killed while on
home leave from Iraq.
He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in November but died on June 23 during
home leave.
DISGRACED Tory peer Lord Archer, 62, was yesterday moved to a closed prison after breaching the terms of his
home leave by attending a party hosted by a former Conservative colleague.
Adair - dubbed Mad Dog - has been denied parole FOUR TIMES and police have also opposed granting him pre-release
home leave.
Now Tippett, who has served prison terms for car theft and for an attack with a baseball bat, is waiting for McDermott to be released from a prison near York on
home leave.
A CONVICTED murderer who tried to kill a dog walker with a dumbbell while he was on
home leave is facing a lifetime behind bars.
