Attorney-General Peter Patmore has defended a system of giving prisoners perks for rehabilitation purposes.
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Mr Patmore said yesterday that prisoners were more likely to offend again if they were locked up in prison for their entire jail term, rather than being let out occasionally via the prison day release programme.
Mr Patmore also backed the previous Government's decision to allow a convicted murderer to drive a $30,000 car to his taxpayer-funded job earning $400 a week.
However, he has ordered an immediate review of implementation of the prison day release programme, saying that procedures such as police checks on potential prisoner guardians could be improved.
The review would examine the question of police checks, the use of public and private transport, and how the public could be better educated about the programme.
Convicted murderer Kevin Ambrose McDonald, 47, who is serving a life sentence for bashing a man to death in 1987, is allowed out of prison to drive to the Sports Aboriginal Corporation in Hobart two or three nights a week.
Mr Patmore defended the move, saying that McDonald was a model prisoner who paid $100 out of his wage in board. The remainder of his wage went into a family trust fund.
``It must be remembered that these prisoners are towards the end of their sentence, heavily supervised, and have been appropriately screened,'' he said.
Convicted child-killer James Ryan O'Neill, who killed two children during the 1970s, was also allowed out to go trout fishing with his dog at a property leased by the Hayes prison farm.
Another convicted murderer, Brian John Sadler, was working at a New Norfolk hardware store until his job was terminated recently.
Mr Patmore said that the day release programme, particularly work release, was essential for prisoner rehabilitation in terms of education, work and providing role models for other prisoners.