“It is of course horrible from a societal perspective and from a crime victim perspective that you sentence someone to prison who does not have time to go in before committing a new crime.”

This is what Joakim Righammar, acting head of planning for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service’s institutions, says after Ekot’s review. The unique survey shows that every fifth convict, who was at large, committed new crimes while awaiting punishment.

Ekot’s survey of nearly 11,000 people sentenced to prison who began their sentences in 2019 and 2020 shows that every fifth person who was released before the sentence, almost 2,200 people, has been convicted by a district court for crimes they committed during their time in prison.

In Ekot’s survey, we find 552 who have been convicted in district court for having stolen or robbed, 172 who have been convicted of having abused someone, and eight who have been convicted of having raped. Two of these were child rapes. In addition, 12 people have been convicted of involvement in various murder-related crimes, and four of them have been murdered.

– It is completely insane that before entering enforcement they have time to commit such serious violent crimes or even murder, says Joakim Righammar.

In Kallinge in Blekinge 2019, an 83-year-old man was beaten and robbed in his home. One of the robbers was previously sentenced to prison for, among other things, assault and unlawful threats, but was at large before the sentence was to be served and thus committed this new crime.

What my father went through, other old people should not go through. I’m still suffering and my father is doing well, says the man’s daughter to P4 Blekinge.

The Swedish Prison and Probation Service are responsible for how long prison sentences are free. Due to the lack of space in the institutions, the detention period for the convicts has now been extended and it is not optimal, says acting planning director Joakim Righammar.

Through our decision to increase the times in freedom, we increase the conditions for you to, if you want, commit crimes in freedom.

The Swedish Prison and Probation Service charts what recidivism in crime looks like after serving a prison sentence, but not how many recidivate before the actual punishment begins to be served – in the meantime at large.

Joakim Righammar says that Ekot’s review shows that it can be more difficult for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to carry out its task, to ensure that convicts stop their crimes.

It is a huge uphill for us. Of course, it hurts our relapse prevention work.