LONDON

More than 10,000 prisoners have been released up to 70 days early by former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government as part of emergency measures to address severe overcrowding in jails, newly released figures show.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that between October 2023 and June 2024, 10,083 inmates in England and Wales were freed under the end of custody supervised license (ECSL) scheme.

Initially launched in October 2023, the ECSL scheme permitted some prisoners to be released 18 days before their conditional release date.

This early release period was extended to 35 days in March and subsequently to 70 days in May.

As part of further efforts to alleviate the overcrowding crisis, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to announce that, for the first time, low-risk prisoners will be automatically released after serving just 40% of their sentences.

This new measure, which will take effect in September, is expected to result in the early release of several thousand prisoners.

According to the British media, the releases will be phased in gradually. The policy will apply to inmates serving sentences of less than four years but will exclude those convicted of violent, sexual, or terrorism-related offenses.

The decision comes in response to dire warnings from senior police and prison officials, who cautioned that the prison system was on the brink of collapse. They indicated that law and order could deteriorate rapidly if facilities could no longer accept new inmates.

The announcement by Mahmood will primarily focus on the automatic release of prisoners serving "standard determinate sentences" after they have completed 40% of their term.

This approach is expected to place additional strain on the already overstretched probation service and is likely to provoke outrage among crime victims, who may feel that justice is being undermined.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his deep frustration with the overcrowding crisis. He described the problem as "worse than thought" and slammed the previous Conservative administration for what he called a "total" and "shocking" failure to address the issue adequately.