Thousands of inmates to be released onto Britain's streets amid growing prison crisis

Releasing violent criminals early “presents a risk” to the public but is necessary to prevent a total breakdown in law and order, the new Justice Secretary has claimed.

Shabana Mahmood warned criminals will exploit the prison capacity crisis, with “looters running amok, smashing in windows, robbing shops and setting neighbourhoods alight” unless the Government took emergency action.

Convicts will be released after 40% of their sentence, rather than halfway through their sentence after ministers were warned the Prison Service could run out of cells within weeks.

Among those will be violent offenders, but Ms Mahmood insisted “serious sexual and violent” criminals will remain behind bars.

Violent offenders will be released under the temporary scheme if they are serving sentences of less than four years and are no longer deemed a risk to the public.

The Justice Secretary conceded after a speech at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire: “I am aware that every option is one that presents a risk.

“The risk of a breakdown of law and order, I think, is much greater and one that no responsible government could ever tolerate.

“Our government will not tolerate that risk. So, we are making this difficult decision today.

“But I hope that the implementation period that we are going to make, the way that we are making these changes, will allow probationers the time they need to do those early release plans, to try and make sure that they are both in place in the usual way, making decisions about how they help those who are being released, and also keeping the public safe.”

The scheme will come into force in September and will be reviewed after 18 months.

Ms Mahmood insists the “emergency” measure is only temporary.

Painting an alarming picture of the prison system, the Justice Secretary said jails had been “99 per cent” full for the past 18 months.

There are just 700 cells left. Justice chiefs are alarmed when this figure drops below 1,425 and the overcrowding crisis was predicted to intensify until September, when there would be no empty cells left.

If jails were to completely fill up, police cells would be used.

But they would run out of custody cells within days, triggering a catastrophic chain of events.

A senior police source warned the UK would be heading into “uncharted territory” if this happened, adding “we need to avoid that at all costs.”

They added that criminals would adapt their behaviour to the crisis, and would commit more offences, many of which they may not have previously planned because they know police would be changing their behaviour and not arresting as many people.

London, the area with the most cells, would run out in six to ten days. Most other areas would run out within 72 hours, as convicted criminals are held in custody suites rather than prison cells, it is understood.

Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood said in a speech: “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 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.

“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.”

Those convicted of stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour, non-fatal strangulation and breaching restraining orders, along with those jailed for serious violent or sexual offences, will be banned from the scheme.

The Ministry of Justice said “anyone released will be strictly monitored on licence by the Probation Service through measures which can include electronic tagging and curfews.”

Ms Mahmood said: “There is now only one way to avert disaster.

“I do not choose to do this because I want to…. but we are taking every protection 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.”

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “I opposed this, both inside and outside government. With 40 MPs, I tabled amendments to the Sentencing Bill to stop the early release of criminals and put public safety first.

“We managed to stop the Government doing it. Labour is picking up Tory ideas and putting the public at risk.”

The Ministry of Justice said 10,000 prisoners had been released early in a previous bid to avert the crisis.

Ms Mahmood announced that the present early release scheme, the End of Custody Supervised Licence, which is letting some prisoners out up to 70 days early, will be terminated in September.

She branded it “dysfunctional”.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, said: “It is pleasing to see the new Government has taken action on this pressing issue so quickly.

“We are supporting the Ministry of Justice and other partners in the criminal justice system to manage the impact of these changes, particularly around supporting victims, families and others who will be affected.”

Ms Mahmood launched a personal attack on former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his team in Downing Street, branding them the “guilty men” for failing to prevent the crisis from developing.

She said: “Those responsible – Sunak and his gang in Number Ten – should go down in history as the guilty men.

“The guilty men who put their political careers ahead of the safety and security of our country. It was the most disgraceful dereliction of duty I have ever known.

“The last government left us with a time-bomb, ticking away.”

The Lord Chancellor has also set out plans to recruit over 1,000 additional trainee probation officers by March 2025.

Ms Mahmood also refused to be drawn on whether Labour wants to see less criminals being jailed.

New Prisons Minister James Timpson has said he wants to see the number of offenders behind bars reduced drastically.

The Government has committed to a sentencing review in a bid to reduce reoffending.

But the Justice Secretary said: “We've got to make it clear that the policy of this government is that prison has a place.

“Punishment matters. Break our rules, break the law of our land, you have to be punished.

"So that's not changing.

“But we recognise that when we have a system where 80% of offenders are re-offenders, something else is going horribly wrong in our prisons.”