Ministers accused of ‘rookie errors’ over early release scheme as freed prisoner allegedly commits assault

Prisoners were being freed under the early release scheme in a bid to tackle overcrowding in jails in England and Wales

Around 1,760 prisoners were released early from prisons last week (PA Wire)

Shadow home secretary James Cleverly has led concerns over the government’s early release scheme after a prisoner was accused of sexually assaulting a woman on the same day he was freed.

Around 1,750 inmates were released early from jails in England and Wales on Tuesday to alleviate the overcrowding crisis which is overwhelming prisons.

But following the move, it emerged a prisoner was accused of assaulting a woman on the same day he was freed. He has since been charged and recalled to prison ahead of a court date.

Appearing on Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Cleverly said the Tory party would not have taken the same action to tackle the rising number of inmates in prisons.

He said: “We’ve seen this for the winter fuel allowance and the prisoner release scheme. These are rookie errors by an arrogant and inexperienced government.”

He added: “Civil service have presented the neat and tidy answer that they wanted, which we could see was wrong. And again, this naive and inexperienced government went for it.

“And we’re now seeing the consequences with sexual offenders where, domestic abusers, career criminals are being released in huge numbers and it’s backfired, which is why we had said no to it.”

The alleged incident involving the freed prisoner has also alerted a leading academic figure.

Dr Hannah Bows, a professor in criminal law, told The Independent: “[There are] wider issues with rehabilitation and risk assessment of offenders. Whether released slightly early or on time we have big questions to ask about what we are acutely doing to prevent violence against women.”

Dr Bows, deputy director of the Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse at Durham University, argued just “locking men up doesn’t solve” the wider problem of violence against women and girls.

“Offenders should serve the appropriate sentence for the appropriate duration but what we do with that time is critical to prevent reoffending and at the moment we’re letting down both victims and offenders,” she added.

Downing Street said hundreds of prisoners must be released early to prevent “unchecked criminality” whereby the criminal justice system cannot imprison those who break the law.

The new policy sees the proportion of sentences which some inmates must serve behind bars temporarily curbed from 50 per cent to 40 per cent. Terrorists and sex offenders are excluded and will not be released early.

Inmates serving prison sentences of less than four years for violent offences, including manslaughter, are among those eligible to be freed under the scheme.

Mr Cleverly said the scheme showed “rookie errors” among ministers (Sky News)

Alan Collins, a lawyer who represents victims of sexual abuse, said: "There is a strong likelihood that we will see reoffending by those who probably should not have been released. Surely it was not beyond the wit of man to have adopted an alternative strategy."

Earlier in the week, The Independent reported on fears that have been raised that domestic abusers are “slipping through the net” of the government’s early release scheme for prisoners and victims could be placed at grave risk.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The government inherited prisons in crisis and on the brink of collapse. Had that happened, the courts would have been unable to hold trials and the police to make arrests.

“We had no choice but to introduce emergency measures, releasing some prisoners a few weeks or months early, while excluding a number of offences and imposing strict licence conditions.

“While we cannot comment on the details of any single case, those who break their licence conditions or commit further crimes will be punished.”