A man who was freed from prison early as part of the Labour Government’s early release scheme has been charged with murder.
The man, who had been earlier jailed for knife offences, has now been charged over an incident in London.
He had been freed from prison ahead of his scheduled release date in an attempt to ease overcrowding in the nation’s prison system.
The individual, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has now been charged with the most serious offence allegedly committed by a prisoner since the program was introduced last September.
The early release scheme was introduced just over a year ago by then Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood in response to her warning that British jails were at a “point of collapse”.
Officially named the Standard Determinate Sentences 40 (SDS40), the policy has so far resulted in the release of 38,000 criminals onto the nation’s streets.
Data from the Ministry of Justice has revealed that an average of 129 prisoners were freed early every day between September last year and this June.
4,358 offenders were let out in June, the highest monthly total since the initial flurry of releases following the policy’s implementation.
A man freed under the early release scheme has been charged with murder
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Under the program, prisoners serving a fixed-term sentence of fewer than four years can be freed after serving just 40 per cent of their sentence.
They previously had to serve at least half of their term.
Government data showed that 346 of those let go so far had been serving sentences of 14 years or more, while 710 had been handed between 10 and 14 years.
These releases can include violent offenders serving less than four years, including those convicted of manslaughter.
Then Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood introduced the policy as she warned British jails were at a ‘point of collapse’
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Offenders jailed for sex crimes, terrorism, and serious violent crimes, facing more than four years in jail, are not eligible for the early release scheme.
The Ministry of Justice’s figures show that the number of recalls to prison has risen by 13 per cent between April and June, with 11,000 ordered back to jail.
This is compared to 9,782 over the same period last year and 6,814 in 2023.
Most of these recalls were prompted by non-compliance with licence conditions, but 22 per cent of the orders were for a charge of further offending.
Despite the tens of thousands of early releases, the number of people in prison has still risen from 86,966 in September last year to 87,465.
The Ministry of Justice said: “This Government inherited a prison system in crisis and took decisive action to stop our prisons from collapsing. “Public protection is our number one priority.
“That is why offenders out on licence face strict conditions such as exclusion zones and being tagged, and they can be brought back to prison if they break these rules.
“We are building 14,000 prison places – with 2,500 opened since last July – and reforming sentencing so our jails are never left to run out of space again,” they added.