Mr.
Coaker: The hon. Gentleman seeks, through his amendments,
to make it clear that, if a person serving a sentence in the UK is
temporarily surrendered to another country to face criminal
proceedings, any time spent outside the UK will not fall to be counted
in calculating the date on which they may be eligible for parole or
early release once they are returned here to serve the remainder of
their UK
sentence. I
understand why hon. Members are concerned to ensure that time spent
outside the UK does not fall to be deducted from someone’s UK
sentence. It would clearly be wrong if time a guilty man spent in
custody facing foreign criminal proceedings or serving an overseas
sentence fell to be deducted from the UK sentence, as this would, in
effect, allow them to double count their spent in custody outside the
UK.
I agree with
the hon. Gentleman, but the amendment is unnecessary as the clause
already makes it clear that time spent in custody overseas will not
count towards a UK sentence and will therefore not affect the date on
which parole or early release falls to be considered. The only
exception would be where someone has been temporarily surrendered for
the purposes of a trial in another country and held in custody and is
subsequently
found to be not guilty. In such a situation, I am sure that the hon.
Gentleman would agree that it is right and proper that the period spent
in custody overseas should be deducted from the UK
sentence. I
agree with the hon. Gentleman’s point, but do not feel that the
amendment is necessary, so I ask him to beg leave to withdraw
it. The
Chairman adjourned the Committee without Question put (Standing Order
No.
88). Adjourned
till this day at Four
o’clock.
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