Hundreds of prisoners in England and Wales were released early on Tuesday (10/9) as part of the Ministry of Justice’s emergency plan to cope with overcrowding in prisons.
The scheme to free up 5,500 beds began on Tuesday after the plan, announced in July, allowed inmates serving sentences of less than five years to be released after serving 40% of their prison terms instead of the usual 50%.
Prisoners released from Belmarsh Prison on Tuesday commented on the overcrowding. “As soon as there is a slight gap, it will be filled in a matter of minutes,” said one of them.
The planned release of prisoners has drawn criticism from industry bodies and charities for women and children.
“One of the problems is that we were not consulted about the mechanism of the scheme,” said Ian Lawrence, Secretary-General of the National Association of probation officers (NAPO).
There are fears that women and children may become unwelcome victims of the emergency plan.
“We know that not all domestic abusers will be excluded from the scheme, so some will get away with it. This is a very worrying time for survivors of domestic violence,” said Jessica Eagleton, Chief Policy and public affairs manager at the Refuge organization. [ka / jm]