Kenny MacAskill will make a statement to MSPs Brian Taylor's blog Open jail process looked at

Robert Foye, 28, attacked the 16-year-old after absconding from Castle Huntly open prison, near Dundee.

A prison service report on Tuesday said Foye had been considered a suitable candidate for an open jail despite a high risk of reoffending.

Mr MacAskill had originally rejected calls for an emergency statement.

'Public concern'

But Parliament Minister Bruce Crawford told MSPs on Wednesday afternoon the justice secretary would make a statement next week on the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) report into the case.

Foye attacked the 16-year-old in Cumbernauld in August last year.

He had been on the run for almost a week before carrying out the offence.

Foye was half way through a 10-year sentence for attempting to murder a policeman in 2002 when he absconded from the open prison.

Mr MacAskill said: "The government was perfectly prepared to make a statement to parliament on this extremely serious issue, and reached an agreement with opposition groups to do so next week.

"It is right that Scotland's national parliament reflects the concerns and priorities of the Scottish people.

Robert Foye is due to be sentenced in May

"There is enormous public concern given what occurred and the appalling crime committed by Robert Foye, and ministers do not believe that this should be a matter for partisanship."

He added that ministers had asked the SPS to produce the report into "this dreadful case".

Mr MacAskill said the government would ensure its recommendations were "implemented as a matter of urgency".

Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken welcomed the announcement that a statement would be made to MSPs.

He said: "It is crucial that Kenny MacAskill makes this statement, even if he is going to have to defend the indefensible."

Michael Duffy, the SPS director of prisons, had said earlier the prison service was looking at how to strengthen their procedures in the wake of the case.

But he added that offenders classed as being high risk could still be transferred to open jails.

Mr Duffy told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We accept that what has happened on this occasion is obviously not acceptable to us or the public and what we've got to do is beef it up in every single way that we can, and that's what we're trying to do."