Housing a big problem for convicts

MORE than 60% of convicts leaving prison cite housing as their major difficulty, according to research published yesterday.

The other main problems related to drugs and alcohol, adjusting to life on the outside and gaining employment.

The report, Crime and Homelessness, carried out by housing charity Focus Ireland and prisoner support group PACE, found that just under half of homeless people surveyed said their homelessness led to crime and in turn imprisonment.