Prisoners who have served 40% of their sentence will be released to help alleviate overcrowding, the government has announced.
Justice Secretary 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, apart from the most serious offenders, are usually released on licence after serving 50% of their sentence.
From September, this will be reduced to 40%.
Prison Officers Association chair Mark Fairhurst told Sky News this could mean about 5,500 prisoners are released under the scheme in the first few months.
The reduction in time served will not apply to those who committed serious violent offences with sentences of four years or more.
This includes:
• Stalking offences
• Controlling or coercive behaviours in an intimate or family relationship
• Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation
• Breach of restraining order, non-molestation order and domestic abuse protection order.
Since 2023 male prisons in England and Wales have had an occupancy rate of more than 99% for the majority of the time
The most serious offenders will also not be released early. They must currently spend two-thirds of their sentence behind bars or have the Parole Board decide if they can be released.
Electronic tagging and curfews
Prisoners released early under the programme will be strictly monitored through measures including electronic tagging and curfews.
They could be recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions.
Lord Chancellor Mahmood, announcing the plan at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire, said: “When prisons are full, violence rises – putting prison officers on the front line at risk.
“When no cells are available, suspects cannot be held in custody. This means van loads 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.
“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.”
The previous Conservative government started a controversial early release prisoner scheme last October which allowed certain offenders to be freed up to 70 days before the end of their sentence.
Ms Mahmood said that scheme, which saw more than 10,000 offenders being released, is now being stopped.
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Prisoner released early talks to Sky News
Since the beginning of 2023, male prisons in England and Wales have had an occupancy rate of more than 99% the majority of the time, Ministry of Justice figures show.
The latest figures revealed there were only 708 places remaining on Monday.
For the system to operate smoothly and effectively, a minimum buffer of more than double that – 1,425 spaces – is required.
Ms Mahmood also promised to recruit more than 1,000 additional trainee probation officers by March 2025 and to publish a 10-year prison-capacity strategy at the autumn Budget.