Army

Report into military veterans in prison

To Download this program click here

An inquiry into former armed service personnel in prison has found no evidence that having served for your country makes veterans more likely to end up in prison than civilians.

But the Howard League for Penal Reform report did find military veterans are twice as likely to become convicted sex offenders than members of the general public and that veterans are more likely to commit violent offences.

Sir John Nutting QC, chairman of the inquiry, said he had "no idea" why former servicemen went on to commit sex offences and called for further research to look into any causes.

"It ought to be remembered that servicemen, especially those who are likely to fight in the front line, have to be trained to be effective in the use of violence," the report found.

"Inside the forces, this violence is controlled and regulated. Yet some ex-servicemen whom we interviewed had not found it easy to restrain violent impulses outside of that environment."

The inquiry found three out of four military veterans in prison have served in the Army.

Sir John said the Army could not be blamed, adding that many of the 3,000 ex-servicemen in prison might have been jailed earlier if they had not signed up "to better themselves".

The Army recruits many young men from socially-deprived and economically-disadvantaged backgrounds, the same demographic of the general population as is often found in custody, he said.

Sir John said: "The Army freezes or delays the criminal offences until, in most cases, much later in their lives."

The report found three in four veterans (77%) in prison had served in the Army, compared with about one in seven (15%) in the Royal Navy and about one in twelve (8%) in the Royal Air Force.

In all, some 3,000 of the 85,000 prisoners in England and Wales were ex-servicemen, the inquiry found.

Of the 29 veterans interviewed for the inquiry, eight were behind bars for murder.

Other figures from the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) unit of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) showed that one in four veterans in prison were jailed for sex offences, compared to just one in 10 of the general prison population.

And 32.9% of ex-servicemen, about one in three, were jailed for violence, compared with 28.6% of the general population.

The inquiry also found "little or no evidence" to suggest combat-related trauma drives veterans to commit crimes.

The report calls for screening to be introduced for those leaving the armed services to identify anyone likely to be vulnerable "so a better eye can be kept on them in the future".

Sir John said it was by "no means impossible" that ex-servicemen were experiencing a delay, sometimes of up to 15 years, before being hit by PTSD, storing up problems for the future.

He added that most veterans saw their time in the forces as the "best days of their lives" and called for help to make them more aware of the more than 2,000 charities offering support.

The Ministry of Defence said it would consider the inquiry's recommendations.

"We are pleased that they have accepted the Government's estimate of the percentage of prisoners who are veterans, which remains low at 3.5%," a spokesman said."