Hundreds of prisoners freed to ease overcrowding in jails

Published on Wednesday 28 May 2008 10:22

THE Government has drawn up plans to release hundreds of criminals from prison early.

To ease overcrowding, about 550 non-violent and non-sexual offenders will be automatically freed halfway through their sentences, rather than at the two-thirds point.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said that after the initial batch were freed over 14 months, there could be further releases.

Jails in England and Wales have been instructed to let out eligible offenders from June 9, and warned by Prison Service HQ that failing to do so would amount to "unlawful detention".

Justice Secretary Jack Straw's plan is expected to free urgently-required space in jails, as inmate numbers reached a record 83,000 in England and Wales.

Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert described such schemes as "underhand" and criticised the Government for providing inadequate capacity, although the MoJ said the plans went through Parliament unopposed.