Killers and rapists among thousands of criminals to be released early from UK jails
Rapists, killers and sex fiends are to be sprung early from jail as part of a 6,000-strong release blitz starting in September this year.
Rapists, killers and sex fiends are to be released early from jail as part of Labour's plan to stop prisons running out of space. A legal change will uncage some offenders convicted of the most serious crimes after they have served just half their sentence. With jails bursting at the seams, under-fire Justice Secretary David Lammy has waved through changes that will see sex offenders, killers convicted of manslaughter, GBH thugs and rapists eligible for the new early release rules from September this year, according to reports.
According to the Daily Telegraph, they could be sprung halfway through their stretch, rather than serving two-thirds of a sentence as now. It means a rapist banged up for 15 years could walk after just seven and a half - simply for behaving well behind bars. At the same time, burglars, thieves and yobs sent down for assault will be sprung just a third of the way through, slashed from the current 40%.
The Telegraph revealed the first 700 lags will be let loose in September, with a similar wave freed every month for the following nine months. The staggered jailbreak could see between 5,000 and 7,000 set free as the MoJ rolls out the system.
There will be a presumption that prisoners released are fitted with a GPS tag and told to follow rules like a curfew and location-based restrictions on their movement.
The last early-release free-for-all sparked nationwide fury, with grinning crooks filmed swigging champagne and posing beside flash sports cars. Nick Timothy, the Shadow Justice Secretary, blasted the scheme as "reckless" and an "insult to victims and a threat to the public".
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"Killers and rapists, including the evil rape gang perpetrators, should remain behind bars where they belong but Labour want to let them back on the street," Mr Timothy said.
A spokesman for the MoJ said: "Without this decisive action, prisons would have run out of space entirely, making it impossible for convicted offenders to be sent to prison and risking the complete breakdown of the criminal justice system, putting the public at untold risk."
The MoJ spokesman added: "We’re also making sure punishment works to cut crime and strengthening supervision in the community – investing £700m into probation, recruiting 1,300 additional probation officers this year, and ensuring every prison leaver is tagged unless there is clear reason not to."
