2000 prisoners to be launched early to release area riot offenders
Almost 2,000 prisoners are set to be released early on the same day next month in order to free up space for those convicted in the recent riots.
The offenders have all been selected for the first section of early releases on September 10.
A second tranche of up to 1,700, all jailed for more than five years, will be released the following month on October 22, The Telegraph first reported.
It comes after the law was changed to enable them to be freed after serving 40 per cent of their sentences, as opposed to the current half.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) launched emergency measures in the North of England yesterday to prevent the jail overcrowding crisis from getting worse in areas where rioters have placed added pressure on prisons.
Almost 2,000 prisoners are set to be released early on the same day next month in order to free up space for those convicted in the recent riots
Police clash with right wing protesters in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, on August 3
An emergency scheme, Operation Early Dawn, is designed to tide the prison service through to September 10.
The scheme was previously triggered in May and forces officers to keep suspects in their cells or release them on bail until a prison space becomes available.
No single prison will release more than 100 prisoners on Sept 10, it is understood.
The MoJ said anyone released would be be closely monitored on licence by the Probation Service through methods including curfews and electronic tagging.
All offenders could be recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions.
More than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, with upwards of 470 people charged with offences.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘We’ve taken tough decisions, we’ve been able to prove that if you commit disorder, you can expect to be put through the criminal justice system quickly, and we will continue in that vein.’
Anti-migration protesters riot outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at Garnerville Police training college on August 19, in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Mark Fairhurst, the chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: ‘It’s justice delayed at the moment, because we’re not clogging up police cells, so they might have to delay some of their operations.
‘When they arrest people, they’ve got to make sure they’ve got them a custody space in police custody, because we might have prisoners filling up their cells. Of course, they have got to pay overtime to supervise prisoners.’
Violent riots exploded across several cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Plymouth and Birmingham this summer following the Southport knife rampage which claimed the lives of three young girls and left many others injured.
False speculation online that the teenage suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a boat has fuelled the unrest which started outside a mosque in Southport and spread across the UK.
