Brum Royal
Seb, just taking this slightly off topic for a minute, why does it seem that nobody (that you hear of in the mainstream press at least) seems to serve a full term? Why do most seem to get out early, and what then is the point of the full term sentence if it is less regularly served?
From my experience it's to try and regulate prison population and behaviour inside.
You are only released after 1/2 of your sentence if you have been 'good' whilst serving your term. When you are released, you are then effectively serving your sentence in public, you will most likely be on tag (dependant on sentence I believe) and have to visit a parole officer weekly. Any offence committed whilst on parole would see you instantly returned back to jail to serve the remainder of your sentence.
I'm sure Seb can explain better than myself though