![Aerial view of Five Wells Prison in Wellingborough](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2024/07/12/TELEMMGLPICT000385332806_17207870463830_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqfp92onrxCPHoA1vgDHQjma0_3QtH5iTgEUHGDCkt6eA.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Prison release scheme risks public safety, admits Justice Secretary
Shabana Mahmood announces thousands of criminals will be released 40 per cent of the way through sentences
![Aerial view of Five Wells Prison in Wellingborough](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2024/07/12/TELEMMGLPICT000385332806_17207870463830_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqfp92onrxCPHoA1vgDHQjma0_3QtH5iTgEUHGDCkt6eA.jpeg?imwidth=680)
The early release of prisoners jailed for offences of violence, burglary and robbery is a risk to public safety, the Justice Secretary has admitted.
Shabana Mahmood announced on Friday that thousands of criminals would be automatically released 40 per cent of the way through their prison sentences rather than at the halfway point in order to prevent jails in England and Wales running out of space.
In a speech at Five Wells prison in Wellingborough, the Justice Secretary said she had no option because of the risk the prison crisis could lead to a collapse of the criminal justice system within weeks, leading to the “total breakdown of civil law and order”.
As revealed by The Telegraph, prisoners released early will include violent offenders serving sentences under four years for crimes such as assault, as well as burglars, robbers and thieves. Sex offenders, terrorists, domestic abusers and those jailed for over four years for serious violence will be excluded.
Ms Mahmood said: “I do not take this decision lightly. I fully understand there is risk attached with doing so but to disguise reality and delay further, like my predecessors did is unconscionable and will lead to disaster. I will not let that happen.”
She added: “I understand that people may feel worried. But we are taking every precaution that is available to us. Let me be clear, this is an emergency measure. This is not a permanent change. I am unapologetic in my belief that criminals must be punished.”
Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, warned the new scheme – which is due to begin in September – would “inevitably lead to the early release of some risky offenders” and would add to the workload of “already stretched” probation officers who will have to supervise them in the community.
“How these men are prepared for release and how prisons and probation are supported in managing them will be vital,” he said.
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Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, questioned whether there was “enough time” to get probation processes “right” ahead of the early releases in September.
Ms Mahmood said “low thousands” of prisoners would be freed early in the first phase of the scheme. Officials predict it will reduce the number of offenders in jails by some 5,000 to ease the chronic overcrowding.
She said prisons were just weeks away from running out of cells with only 700 spaces left in male prisons, close to the point at which they would have to start refusing to take offenders and suspects sent to them by the police and courts.
“When no cells are available, suspects cannot be held in custody. This means vanloads of dangerous people circling the country, with nowhere to go. The police would have to use their cells as a prison overflow, keeping officers off the streets. Soon, the courts would grind to a halt, unable to hold trials,” said Ms Mahmood.
“With officers unable to act, criminals could do whatever they want, without consequence. We could see looters running amok, smashing in windows, robbing shops and setting neighbourhoods alight. In short, if we fail to act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system. And a total breakdown of law and order.”
Ms Mahmood said the “exclusions” of sex offenders, terrorists and those jailed for serious offences aimed to protect the public. Also exempted are offenders subject to parole, those who spend two thirds of their sentences in jail and crimes linked to domestic abuse, stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour, non-fatal strangulation and suffocation and breaches of protection or restraining orders.
Recruitment drive
She said anyone released early would be strictly monitored on licence by the probation service through measures, including electronic tagging and curfews. They face being recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions. She also announced a recruitment drive for 1,000 new probation officers.
However, Suella Braverman, former home secretary, warned the early-release plan would put the public “at risk” as she claimed she and 40 other MPs had succeeded in blocking a similar plan by the Tories. “We managed to stop the government [from] doing it. Labour is picking up Tory ideas and putting the public at risk,” she said.
The Ministry of Justice also revealed on Friday that more than 10,000 prisoners were released up to 70 days early by Rishi Sunak’s government between October and June to tackle the jail overcrowding crisis. More than half at some prisons were said to have been recalled after offending or breaching their licence.
On Friday, it emerged a thief freed early from an overcrowded prison went on a burglary and theft spree after serving just four months of his 18-month jail term. Joshua Bassett, 26, from Swansea, carried out 23 new crimes within weeks of being released less than a quarter into his sentence.