Hundreds of prisoners are being released across England and Wales today as Labour begins the third stage of its controversial early-release programme.
The latest group of 650 inmates includes people serving sentences of up to three years and two months.
One prisoner was seen smiling as he walked away from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London this morning, carrying three large holdall bags.
The scheme was introduced to relieve severe overcrowding in jails. Under the new rules, eligible prisoners can be released after serving one-third of their sentence, instead of the previous halfway point.
At least 1,350 prisoners have already been freed early since October 1 during the first two phases of the plan.
The programme will widen every month to include people serving longer terms. Its tenth and final stage, scheduled for early June, will cover prisoners given sentences of 12 years or more.
Official figures show prisons in England and Wales remain close to full capacity, operating at almost 98 per cent even after the first releases took place.
The prison population was recorded at 87,033 yesterday, leaving only 1,951 available spaces.
A Reform UK MP has proposed deporting foreign offenders ‘to their country of origin’ as one way of easing pressure on the prison system.
Sarah Pochin, the Reform MP for Runcorn and Helsby in Cheshire, went to Wandsworth prison as the third release phase got under way.
She said she had travelled to the prison because she felt ‘so strongly about the safety of women now at risk because of the early release of these prisoners, many of whom will be domestic violence perpetrators’.
A prisoner smiles while leaving HMP Wandsworth in south-west London
Michael Bogle, 38, stole more than £100 worth of washing powder from Sainsbury’s just 24 hours after his early release from HMP Wandsworth
Asked what should be done to reduce overcrowding, she said: ‘One very easy solution, which the Reform Party would do if we get into government next time, is to immediately empty all of our prisons of foreign national offenders.’
She added: ‘We would deport them back to their country of origin.’
Last month, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said officers were arresting two or three people each week who had been released early under the scheme.
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Police chiefs have warned that the problem could intensify as the government’s reforms lead to the release of more serious offenders.
‘I’m worried about the number of offenders being released into communities,’ Sir Mark told LBC radio.
‘At the moment we’re arresting two or three early release offenders a week who are being recalled to prison or doing further offending.
‘We’re getting increasing numbers of tag breaches to enforce that probation is sending to us. It’s now over 100 tag breaches a day in London – and rising.
‘So, we take them to court. We’re seeing 95 per cent plus of the tagging breaches that we arrest are simply being bailed back into the community on the same conditions. So, there is zero sanction.’
London shoplifter Michael Bogle, 38, stole more than £100 worth of washing powder from Sainsbury’s only a day after he was released early.
Over the following three days, he stole another £98.85 worth of detergent from Tesco.
The 38-year-old was also caught entering a Sainsbury’s store three times to steal, despite being prohibited from going near the branch.
Bogle, who is a registered sex offender, had spent just 78 days in custody for breaching a criminal behaviour order and a 32-week suspended sentence linked to shoplifting.
He was later arrested again and sentenced to a further eight months in prison.
Ben Cockburn, chair of the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo), has described the early-release programme as an ‘existential’ threat to the probation service.
He said Napo had asked ministers to place the entire service in special measures as it prepares for what he called a ‘once in a generation’ crisis.
Ministers maintain that safeguards are being introduced to protect the public while such large numbers of prisoners are released at the same time.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris has highlighted ‘the biggest expansion of tagging ever’, alongside plans for new ‘restriction zones’ that would use GPS monitoring to limit offenders’ movements.
However, an earlier report found that almost half of electronic tags are not installed on schedule, contributing to breaches of court and prison conditions.
