High-risk prisoner released early by government had to be recalled to custody almost immediately - watchdog

A high-risk prisoner, who was freed under the government early release scheme despite staff concerns, had to be recalled to custody almost immediately, the watchdog has found.

In an report on HMP Lewes, the chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has revealed that a criminal with significant drugs misuse issues and a recent history of suicidal thoughts had his release date brought forward. This was despite “appeals for the decision to be reversed and staff having serious concerns for his and the public’s safety”. 

He was recalled to custody before the inspection had ended. Another “high-risk” offender was released early, despite a history of stalking, domestic abuse and being subject to a restraining order. 

Overall, the watchdog found the government’s early-release scheme, designed to free up places in overcrowded prisons, is “undermining good, safe release planning”. The chief inspector also stated that appeals by managers at the prison to keep in place original release dates were turned down “despite clear risk issues”. 

The Prime Minister’s spokesman told NationalWorld that the decision for early releases sits with prison governors, while Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “The public will rightly be worried to hear of cases where violent prisoners are being released without a proper assessment of the risk they pose to the public, and specifically children.”

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced in October that the Government would use the powers it has to allow the Prison Service to let some prisoners out of jail up to 18 days early to ease overcrowding. In March, he extended the so-called end of custody supervised licence scheme “to around 35-60 days”, as Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics showed that prisons in England and Wales were still nearing capacity.

Last week, the government revealed it had extended the early release scheme to 70 days. Justice minister Edward Argar told the House of Commons that it would be used “only when absolutely necessary and kept under constant review”. He added: “Only offenders who will soon be released anyway would be considered.”

However the inspection of HMP Lewes, when prisoners were being released 18 days early, found serious issues with the scheme. Taylor’s report said: “The uncertainty this created was undermining good, safe release planning and risk management. Release dates for some high-risk prisoners had been brought forward at short notice, forcing already stretched resettlement agencies to redraw existing plans from scratch in as little as two or three weeks.”

Taylor found that early releases were brought forward, even if the prisoner was going to be left homeless. In the case of the high-risk criminal, with a history of stalking, he was released early despite being “a risk to children and subject to an exclusion zone that included the local authority responsible for trying to house him”. The report found another high-risk prisoner, with significant drug misuse issues and a recent history of suicidal thoughts, was released early despite staff concerns. He had to be recalled to custody.

Taylor said: “The need to release offenders early to free up space in our jails is a further sign of the pressure that our prison service is under, with local leaders having to make difficult choices as the day we run out of places draws closer. 

“The current situation was entirely predictable and is simply not sustainable, for either the prison or probation service. Although some of these issues may, I hope, reduce as the scheme embeds, more fundamentally, an urgent conversation is needed about who we send to prison, for how long, and what we want to happen during their time inside.”

Shabana Mahmood commented: “The Tories’ attempted cover-up of their prisoner early release scheme is unravelling. The public will rightly be worried to hear of cases where violent prisoners are being released without a proper assessment of the risk they pose to the public, and specifically children.

“It’s being left to prison inspectors to tell the public the truth because this government is refusing to level with them on the scale of the prisons and probation crisis.

“It’s time for the Prime Minister to come clean about what 14 years of Conservative chaos has done to our justice system. The public will undoubtedly conclude that Rishi Sunak’s Tory Party is leaving our country less safe.”

Union sources previously told NationalWorld that there is “literally no space in prisons”, and the Prison Officers’ Association has warned of widespread burnout among staff. Overcrowding in prisons has been getting towards a crisis point over the last 12 months, with reports prisoners are sharing cells and being moved around the country at short notice.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "While we will always ensure there is enough capacity to keep dangerous offenders behind bars, this scheme allows us to ease short-term pressures on prisons by moving some lower-level offenders at the end of their custodial term on to licence.

“These offenders will continue to be supervised under strict conditions such as tagging and curfews, and the prison service can block the earlier release of any individual who poses a heightened risk.”

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.