Fifth of all criminals freed from jail under early release scheme are back behind bars
A FIFTH of all criminals freed from a jail under an early release scheme are back behind bars.
Inspectors revealed that of 124 men let out of HMP Winchester, 38 per cent were homeless and 21 per cent were recalled for breaching their licences.
The figures relate to the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme, which was introduced by Rishi Sunak’s Government between January and May.
The scheme, under which inmates got out up to 70 days early, was scrapped by Sir Keir Starmer’s government and replaced by a policy to let some prisoners out 40 per cent of the way through their sentences.
The change led to criminals celebrating outside prisons earlier this month as thousands of offenders were released on the same day.
In a post, shadow home secretary James Cleverly accused the Government of “wrong priorities”.
READ MORE PRISON NEWS
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The new Government inherited a justice system in crisis.
“The Lord Chancellor scrapped the previous Government’s early release scheme, replacing it with a system which gives probation staff more time to prepare for a prisoner’s release.”
Earlier in the month, The Sun revealed that GP's had been told to “prioritise” patients who were released under the Government’s early prison release scheme.
Practices across the country had been given guidance on how to cope with the influx of inmates who were released into the community on September 10.
Most read in The Sun
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood estimated that around 5,500 offenders would be included in the scheme which means criminals, including some violent offenders, only serve 40 per cent of their sentences behind bars.
The Ministry of Justice admitted that some serious offenders will be released as part of the policy, despite previously saying they were not eligible.