Prisoners will be released after serving 40% of their sentence to alleviate overcrowding | Politics News

Prisoners who have served 40% of their sentence will be released to help alleviate overcrowding, the government announced.

Secretary of Justice Shabana Mahmood said failing to act now risks “the collapse of the criminal justice system and a total breakdown of law and order”, including looting and rioting in the streets.

Prisoners in England and Wales, with the exception of the most serious offenders, are generally released on license after serving 50% of their sentence.

From September, this amount will be reduced to 40%.

Prison Officers Association president Mark Fairhurst told Sky News this could mean around 5,500 prisoners will be released under the scheme in the first few months.

The reduction in time served will not apply to those who committed serious and violent crimes with sentences equal to or greater than four years.

That includes:

• Stalking offenses
• Controlling or coercive behaviors in an intimate or family relationship
• Non-fatal strangulation and asphyxiation
• Violation of restraining order, non-molestation order and domestic violence protection order.

More serious offenders will also not be released early. They currently must spend two-thirds of their sentence behind bars or the Parole Board will decide whether they can be released.

Electronic tagging and curfew

Prisoners released at the start of the program will be strictly monitored through measures including electronic tagging and curfews.

They could be recalled to prison if they breached license conditions.

Lord Chancellor Mahmood, announcing the plan at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire, said: “When prisons are full, violence increases – putting prison officers on the front line at risk.

“When there are no cells available, suspects cannot be kept in custody. This means that vans full of dangerous people are driving around the country, with nowhere to go.

“The police would have to use their cells as a prison overcrowding, keeping officers off the streets.

“Soon, the courts will be paralyzed, unable to hold trials.

“With police officers unable to act, criminals can do whatever they want without consequences.

“We could see looters going crazy, breaking windows, robbing stores and setting neighborhoods on fire.

“In short, if we don’t act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system. And a complete breakdown of law and order.”

The previous Conservative government initiated a controversial early prisoner release scheme last October, which allowed the release of certain offenders up to 70 days before the end of their sentence.

Ms Mahmood said the scheme, which has resulted in the release of more than 10,000 offenders, is now being halted.

See more information:
Prisoners will likely be released early
Prisoner released early describes chaos
Labor promises thousands of new prison spaces

Since the start of 2023, men’s prisons in England and Wales have had an occupancy rate of over 99% most of the time, Ministry of Justice figures show.

The latest figures revealed that there were just 708 vacancies left on Monday.

For the system to run smoothly and effectively, a minimum buffer of more than twice that – 1,425 spaces – is required.

Mahmood also promised to recruit more than 1,000 additional probation officers by March 2025 and publish a 10-year prison capacity strategy in the autumn budget.