Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz says the Parole Board needs to toughen up after nine inmates had to be recalled when they breached their conditions.

According to the Parole Board annual report for 2009, released on Friday by Attorney General Michael Scott, the board had to deal with 35 breaches from former inmates who had been let out on parole; nine of them were called back as a result.

The report states one complaint was made to the Ombudsman regarding an alleged “failure to set adequate conditions for parole of a high-risk offender” although Arlene Brock ruled there had been no maladministration.

Mr Moniz told The Royal Gazette yesterday: “The complaint I’m hearing from very high sources in the police department is that the Parole Board is letting out very serious offenders who reoffend.

“Not necessarily murderers in each case, but they might be burglars or robbers or drug dealers.”

Referring to the board which in 2009 consisted of former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith, Progressive Labour Party Senator Cromwell Shakir, Reverend Charles Minors, barrister William Francis and psychologist Jeremy Lodge Mr Moniz said: “All these soft people are letting people out who shouldn’t be out. They’re well-meaning and well-intended, but we need people there who are tougher.”

Mr Moniz said the PLP seems too prepared to help the criminal as opposed to the victim.

Mr Scott, who tabled the report on Friday, responded: “Mr Moniz is of course entitled to his view on the efficacy of [the] Parole Board’s decisions.

“I am satisfied that the board, after diligent and careful review of cases, is releasing our inmates who demonstrate the ability and will to live a pro-social life, and who pose no risk to themselves or the community.”

In a ministerial statement yesterday, Mr Scott told the House of Assembly: “Undoubtedly, there are those who instinctively recoil at the thought of investing so much hope in those who have violated our laws and consequently incur the penalties of the penal system.

“But to take that reaction to the nth degree would be to discard the fundamental tenets of our justice system and to trap us all in a hopeless cycle of unforgiving retribution.

“Even the most fervent demand for a pound of flesh must contend with the sobering reality of what to do with an offender once their prison sentence has ended.

“Being ever mindful of the corresponding challenge of not compromising public safety, parole is granted to inmates who demonstrate the ability and will to live a pro-social life.”