More than a third of early releases were violent offenders

More than a third of prisoners freed under an emergency early release scheme over the summer were serving sentences for violent crimes, figures show.

Of the 477 people released to free up space in overcrowded jails, 188 had been convicted of non-sexual crimes of violence, according to data from the Scottish Prisons Service (SPS).

That amounts to 39.4% of the total released.

The SPS said it was being "open and transparent" about the early release scheme.

The data also shows 52 releases were vetoed by prison governors because they were believed to pose an "immediate risk of harm".

The prisoners were freed in four tranches in June and July under emergency powers granted to ministers by parliament, to protect the welfare of inmates and staff.

Only prisoners with 180 days or less to serve from a sentence of under four years were considered for early release.

No-one convicted of sexual or domestic abuse offences has been released early.

The Scottish government has said the move was in response to rising prison populations - up 13% since last year.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said that similar action was being taken by the UK government in England and Wales.

She said: "The recent emergency release of short sentence prisoners was backed by the Scottish Parliament to deal with a significant rise in the prison population."

She added public safety was "paramount" and a number of safeguards were built into the process including the ability for prison governors to veto the release of prisoners if they posed an "immediate risk to a specific individual or group".

Justice Secretary Angela Constance has defended the early release scheme

The SPS figures show 101 of those released had been convicted of "crimes of dishonesty", while 99 had been convicted of "crimes against society".

Others released under the scheme were serving sentences for anti-social offences, road traffic offences, damage and reckless behaviour and miscellaneous offences.

The largest number of releases by local authority was 72 in Glasgow City, followed by 40 in North Lanarkshire, 39 in Fife and 28 in East Ayrshire.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay MSP said the early release figures were "deeply concerning".

He added: "Yet again, crime victims in Scotland are treated with contempt by this government’s weak justice agenda."

In May, there were 8,365 prisoners in Scotland, the highest number since 2012.

The Scottish Prison Service has a target operating capacity of 8,007.

A spokesperson said: "The safety and wellbeing of people in our care, our staff, and the communities we support continues to be a key priority throughout."