Hundreds of criminals let out of jail yesterday are just the first wave of Labour's 'prison break-out bonanza', the public was warned last night.
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public → let → bonanza
Up to 50,000 offenders a year are likely to be freed early under Prime Minister Andy Burnham's soft-justice programme.
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offenders → free → programme
The Conservatives said the Government's scheme posed an 'acute threat' to public safety.
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scheme → say → safety
In a mammoth expansion of Labour's previous early release initiative, those being freed will, from December, include violent criminals handed more than four years' imprisonment.
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those → free → imprisonment
The first 700 inmates were freed from jails across England and Wales yesterday with many thanking the PM for their new freedom.
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many → free → freedom
At HMP Brixton in south London, serial thief David Elliott declared: 'I'm gonna go stealing again.'
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I → declare → London
One prisoner leaving HMP Durham said: 'Justice system, what justice system?
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prisoner → leave → system
Another walking out of HMP Cardiff who was asked if he had a message for the Labour leader said: 'Thank you very much and don't get me back here again, bro.'
Thousands of criminals a month will be eligible for early release once the scheme is fully up and running.
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scheme → walk → release
Up to 50,000 offenders a year are likely to be freed early under Prime Minister Andy Burnham's soft-justice programme (file image)
At HMP Brixton in south London, serial thief David Elliott announced he planned to immediately reoffend
Shadow Home Secretary, Conservative Chris Philp said: 'This is just the start, and a tsunami of criminals will be swept out of prison and on to our streets by this Labour government.
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tsunami → free → government
As the months go by more and more serious criminals will be released.
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criminals → go → ?
It will pose an acute threat to public safety every single day.'
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It → pose → safety
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the Government was releasing offenders 'who will probably go back and end up terrorising their victims'.
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who → say → victims
Yesterday's first day of Labour's new programme involved offenders jailed for up to 19 months.
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day → involve → months
But between October 13 and early next summer, the scheme will be applied to nine further groups of offenders who were handed increasingly lengthy sentences.
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who → apply → sentences
The tenth and final tranche of releases, in early June, will see those given sentences of 12 years or more let out.
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those → see → years
The Government refused to disclose how many prisoners are projected to be let out early in total.
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prisoners → refuse → total
But Ministry of Justice documents showed that the scheme will be a 'new permanent approach' and early releases will 'continue on a business-as-usual basis'.
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releases → show → basis
It added: 'For context, approximately 4,500 offenders are released from custody in a typical month.'
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offenders → add → month
The first wave of inmates are seen leaving HMP Brixton on early release on October 1, 2026 in London
Inmates pour out of HMP Durham in the north-east of England on Thursday morning
A prisoner covering his face with a mask raises his hands into the air outside HMP Leeds
Two men on a motorbike outside HMP Leeds show support for the prisoners that have been released
A man clad in black and wearing a balaclava walks out of Wandsworth Prison carrying a holdall
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man → see → holdall
The majority of those criminals will benefit from the new early release terms, brought into law by the Sentencing Act earlier this year.
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majority → benefit → Act
It means up to 50,000 offenders a year are likely to be freed early.
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offenders → mean → ?
By comparison, Labour's first attempt at an early release scheme saw more than 70,000 criminals freed between its launch in September 2024 and the end of March this year.
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criminals → see → March
That programme, known as SDS40, was leading to between 3,000 and 4,000 early releases every month.
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programme → know → releases
Its replacement is far broader in scope, with some serious violent offenders becoming eligible for the first time.
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offenders → become → time
From yesterday prisoners previously due to serve 40 or 50 per cent of sentences handed down by the courts will be freed after serving just a third.
As the scheme is rolled out in the coming months, criminals convicted of certain violent or sexual offences who were previously only eligible for release two-thirds of the way through their sentence will instead be let out at the halfway stage.
Life-sentenced prisoners, such as murderers, and those serving extended sentences will not be part of the programme.
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prisoners → serve → programme
Other categories of violent and sexual criminals are also excluded after public outcry led to a series of U-turns by Mr Burnham over the summer.
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outcry → exclude → summer
Criticising the latest wave of early releases, domestic abuse commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs warned that survivors would 'be looking over their shoulder and living in fear because the Government and our criminal justice system has failed to protect them'.
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Government → criticise → them
'It is frankly shameful that as the scheme begins – which ministers have had months to prepare for – I still have no assurance that the danger perpetrators pose has been properly considered and assessed with meaningful input from victims and the specialist services supporting them,' Dame Nicole said.
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Nicole → begin → them
The releases came as one police leader told the Daily Mail that some forces have decided they no longer have the resources to arrest suspects for all bail breaches.
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they → come → breaches
The senior officer said: 'We are already seeing a massive increase in bail breaches and it's going to be onerous as more come out of prison early.
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more → say → prison
Last month the head of the National Police Chiefs Council Gavin Stephens told the Police Superintendents Conference that the expected cost to policing to monitor more offenders in the community had gone up from initial estimates of £300-400million to £480million.
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cost → tell → 480million
The bill has risen due to a massive surge in bail breaches, with a staggering 3,000 electronic tag breaches by bailed suspects every week across England and Wales.
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bill → rise → England
In 97 per cent of those cases, the courts are failing to punish those breaches by remanding offenders into custody or changing their bail conditions.
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courts → fail → conditions
In the remaining 3 per cent of cases, bail conditions are even reduced, sending a message to defendants that they can carry on offending.
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they → remain → defendants
Despite forces pleading for the extra £480million, no extra money has been provided.
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money → plead → 480million
In a bid to monitor offenders and curb their movements, there has been a surge in police applying for domestic abuse protection and criminal behaviour orders.
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police → monitor → protection
But in some areas up to 75 per cent are being refused or delayed as courts do not have capacity to deal with them, leaving officers powerless to protect victims.
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courts → refuse → victims
The Aporia
