ANGER AT LAGS ON FURLOUGH

Inmates paid to do nothing

- ISOBEL DICKINSON

FURLOUGH money and even bonuses were handed to prisoners at the height of the Covid lockdowns.

The Daily Star Sunday can reveal that while millions of hard-working people faced pay cuts and hardship, some convicts cashed in.

Dozens of inmates at open jail Spring Hill on work placements received wages under the furlough scheme.

Their jobs were suspended on health grounds but lags still got their salaries through the Government bailout.

Other inmates around the country who are paid to make cushions and bedspreads were given £50 bonuses.

James Roberts of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “We’re paying prisoners public money to do nothing.