Thousands of prisoners serving long-term sentences, including those sentenced to over 10 years, have been released early under a government scheme aimed at addressing severe prison overcrowding, according to Telegraph UK.
The newspaper reported that since early release measures began in September, a total of 26,456 inmates have been freed ahead of schedule, including 248 prisoners sentenced to 14 years or more, and 490 serving between 10 and 14 years.
The initiative was expanded following Labour’s victory in the last general election.
What Justice Secretary Shabana said on prisoners
Within days of taking office, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the government would begin releasing prisoners early to avoid what she described as a total collapse of the prison system.
Convicted sex offenders, terrorists, and those serving sentences for serious violent crimes (carrying more than four years) have been excluded from the scheme.
According to figures cited in the report, approximately 3,500 prisoners are being released early each month over 150 per working day. If the current pace continues, around 40,000 prisoners will have been released by the end of August.
By comparison, a similar scheme under the previous Conservative government released 13,325 offenders over 11 months, roughly one-third the rate under Labour. Those individuals were released up to 70 days early.
Meanwhile, the early release programme has sparked political criticism as the Shadow Justice Secretary, Robert Jenrick said, “the public is sick of soft justice. Instead of introducing emergency measures to let criminals out early, Starmer should change our broken human rights law so we can deport the thousands of foreign offenders clogging up our jails. These shocking statistics explain why Britain feels lawless.”
Early release figures peaked shortly after the scheme launched, with 3,785 inmates released in September and 5,366 in October, including some backdated cases. Since then, an average of 3,461 prisoners have been released monthly.
One of the convicted drug dealers told the media that his early release had made him a lifelong Labour voter.
In response, the Ministry of Justice spokesperson said, “This government inherited prison days from collapse and had no choice but to take decisive action to stop prisons overflowing and leave police unable to make arrests. public protection is our number one priority. Offenders out on licence face strict conditions and will be brought back to prison if they break these rules. we are building 14,000 prison places and reforming sentencing, so jails never run out of space again.”
