Hundreds more to walk free in latest phase of prison early release scheme

George Lithgow, PA Political and Home Affairs Correspondent

Hundreds more prisoners will be released from jail in the latest phase of the Government’s controversial expanded early release scheme.

The third wave, made up of about 650 prisoners – who are serving sentences of more than 882 days (about two years and five months) and fewer than 1,163 days (roughly three years and two months), are due to be freed early on Tuesday.

Some 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in stages over the next year, down from 6,000, after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and the most serious child sex offenders.

Ministers are releasing groups of offenders on increasingly longer sentences as the scheme goes on.

Earlier this year, the Government changed the law in a bid to cut overcrowding behind bars.

It means criminals serving fixed-term sentences will serve a third of their time behind bars before being released, rather than half, unless their offence is exempt from the policy.

The rules do not apply to rapists, the most serious child sex offenders, criminals guilty of manslaughter, terrorists and murderers serving life sentences.

Inmates cheered and punched the air as they were released early during the second phase last month.

At HMP Durham, one man punched the air in celebration and shouted: “Yes cuzzie.”

Asked what he thought of the early release scheme, he replied: “F****** belta.”

There is a presumption that all criminals freed early will be fitted with GPS tags by contractor Serco, Government officials said.

The Ministry of Justice previously said some of the most serious offenders will now also face the “toughest supervision in British history” once released, with the introduction of tighter restrictions on where they can go.

The prison population of England and Wales was 86,982 on Monday, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data, up from 86,883 last week.

The Liberal Democrats said the Government had projected 87,200 adult prisoners against 88,300 places in November 2027, and 89,700 prisoners against 90,900 places in November 2028.

The party’s justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said: “The Government’s own figures show our prisons are running on fumes, with barely a thousand spare places and no margin for error.

“Those figures rest on a building target that experts warn won’t deliver the places promised, while ministers cut the budget that keeps existing cells fit for use.

“One delayed project or one crumbling wing closed, and we’re straight back to emptying cells early.”

She called on the Justice Secretary to “look victims in the eye today and rule out another early release scheme”.

“If he can’t, the public will rightly conclude that ministers are quietly planning to let even more prisoners walk free early,” she said.

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf said: “Every single prisoner released today is an indictment of successive Tory and Labour ministers. They failed to build more prison places whilst throwing the door open to millions of people to come to our country.

“Now the public is paying the price: 5,000 prisoners – many of whom are dangerous – will be free to walk our streets and terrify their victims without serving their sentences.”