Violent offenders are being released early to tackle overcrowding, chief inspector of prisons warns

Violent prisoners who could be a risk to the public are being released early from jail to tackle the overcrowding crisis, the chief inspector of prisons has warned.

Charlie Taylor said the Government’s scheme enabling prisoners to be freed up to 60 days before their scheduled release date was so widely drawn that it would include violent offenders who “potentially will continue to be a risk to the public in future.”

Violent offenders sentenced to less than four years in jail are eligible for the scheme, as are burglars, thieves, shoplifters and fraudsters serving any length of fixed-term sentence. Sex offenders, convicted terrorists, category A prisoners and all violent offenders serving four or more years are excluded.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk last week announced the scheme will be expanded from freeing offenders up to 18 days before their scheduled release date to 35 days and potentially 60 days. It comes amid warnings that prisons could run out of spaces by next month. There were fewer than 250 places left in men’s jails last week.

Asked on Times Radio if he was worried about the early release scheme, Mr Taylor said he was concerned about the lack of preparation of prisoners for release to ensure that they fitted back into society without reoffending and putting the public at risk. He said his inspectors often found “that isn’t as good as it should be.”

He acknowledged the early release scheme was targeted at “lower level offenders”, but said: “The net is quite wide, so there are some people who have committed some reasonably serious offences as well, and who potentially will continue to be a risk to the public in future.” These included offenders jailed for “violent” and “property” crimes like burglary, he added.

Mr Taylor said current levels of overcrowding prevented prisoners from being effectively rehabilitated through education and training in prison. This meant there was a greater likelihood that they would reoffend and put the public at risk when they were released, he said.

“What we’re leading to is a risk that actually these prisoners are not being rehabilitated and they’re potentially coming out, continuing to play a risk to the public. We see a revolving door of people back into prison and more victims potentially of crime,” said Mr Taylor.

He said the Government had two options with a prison population that was projected to rise from its current 89,000 to 114,000 in four years. One was to reduce the number of offenders being sent to prison. The other was to increase those being released early.

If ministers fail to act, they face an even bigger crisis, he said. “The bath is overflowing, and either they’re going to have to turn the taps off or we’re going to have to let the water out,” said Mr Taylor.

Mr Chalk has presented legislation to the Commons proposing to replace prison sentences with suspended sentences for offenders jailed for under a year, a move that would free up hundreds, if not thousands, of places filled by lower level criminals.

However, Mr Chalk is understood to be frustrated that Downing Street has been sitting on the plans since last December, when they were first presented to Parliament, amid fears that the moves will spark a rebellion by Right-wing Tory MPs concerned that they represent “soft justice.”

The Sunday Times reported that the issue came to a head a week ago when Mr Chalk allegedly told Will Tanner, the deputy chief of staff in No 10: “Pass the bill or start releasing people early. Those are your only choices. Would you please just pick one!”

An example of the type of violent crime where offenders are serving under four years is the case of three men who repeatedly punched their victim in his face and head and threatened him with a machete after demanding the keys to his car. They escaped with the victim’s bag, containing £3,000, €400, his passport, a silver ring, and a pair of sunglasses.

Thirty minutes later they targeted a second victim, who was riding an electric scooter. One of them punched the victim in the face and threatened to stab him before taking the victim’s bag and scooter worth £600. All three received jail sentences of under four years.