Blitz Bureau
London: Around 1,700 prisoners in England and Wales are set to be released early, as part of a government scheme to reduce overcrowding in prisons. This is in addition to the around 1,000 prisoners normally released each week.
According to official figures from last week, the prison population in England and Wales surpassed 88,500, reaching a record high while leaving only about 1,000 free spaces in prisons.
The early release policy is one of the short-term measures in the Government’s plans to ease pressure on prison capacity, especially following the recent riots in the wake of the Southport stabbing in July, which had further strained prison resources, Xinhua news agency reported.
Those being released early are prisoners serving sentences of less than five years. They are now eligible for release on licence after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, down from 50 per cent under the previous law.
The policy does not apply to those serving sentences for certain sexual, violent, domestic abuse, terrorism and national security offences. Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said that the situation is “distressing for many victims who rightfully expect offenders will serve the sentence handed down by the court.”
Despite the Government’s pledge to exclude certain domestic abusers from the scheme, some victims have been notified of their abusers’ release.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this was “the only option left” as the alternative would have been to “allow the prison system to collapse and allow law and order in this country to collapse.”
She blamed the last government, saying they “dodged difficult decisions and left our prisons in crisis.”
