Release error of 37 inmates uncovered after alleged assault – as victims in darkish

The incorrect early release of dozens of prisoners was only uncovered when one of them was accused of sexually assaulting a woman, the Mirror has learned.

And victims affected by the mistaken release of inmates were not notified until around a week after they started to be freed early – and some may still be unaware.

Offender Amari Ward was accused of having “intentionally touched” a woman who did not consent at a train station in Sittingbourne, Kent, just hours after he was released. Alarm bells rang in the Ministry of Justice when he returned to prison two days later, after being arrested and charged with sexual assault, and it was realised he never should have been released early. Ward is due to attend Maidstone Crown Court next month.

Officials discovered the original offence he had been jailed for – breaching a restraining order – had been incorrectly logged under outdated legislation from 1997. It is understood the alleged sexual assault was an unrelated case to Ward’s breach of a restraining order offence. Prisoners who had been jailed for breaching a restraining order should have been excluded from the early release scheme.

But the system only looked at those imprisoned for the offence under the Sentencing Act 2020, which replaced the old legislation. Officials then found out 36 other offenders – 37 in total – had been wrongly released due to the same mistake.

There was still one prisoner yet to be returned to jail, as of Thursday afternoon, with police working “urgently” to bring them back in. Four others have been caught since Wednesday night.

Victims were only contacted last week, around a week after prisoners started to be released early on September 10, as all incorrect cases had to be identified first. The MoJ is legally unable to contact some victims because they are not part of the Victim Contact Scheme. It is understood that a small minority, if any, may not have been contacted about the early release of prisoners.

A Government source told the Mirror: “The public needs to know that every avenue is being explored to contact victims and let them know if a perpetrator has been released incorrectly. Everyone is furious about the disastrous mess the Tories have left the prison system in – and there is no doubt that administering this scheme is fraught with challenges. But that’s why it’s vital that the needs of victims are put at the forefront of its delivery.”

The crisis has shone a light on the difficulties the new Labour government faces in its mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. The MoJ is having conversations with police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to try to understand how outdated legislation has slipped through the system without being noticed. It reveals that while prison overcrowding has been the focus, the criminal justice system is deep-rooted with troubles from end-to-end.

In her speech at Labour conference, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the reform “most urgently needed” in the justice system is “when we consider the plight of women”, citing that 60% of victims drop out of rape cases before they get to trial. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, in her address, added: “We cannot, and we will not, let the next generation of women and girls face the same violence as the last. Our daughters deserve better than this.”

Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove said she was “troubled” by the incorrect release of 37 offenders. “This news will have been distressing for the victims, particularly given that all the offenders were serving prison sentences for breaching restraining orders, indicating that they present a potential risk,” she said.

Former Justice Secretary Alex Chalk suggested the accidental early release of 37 prisoners is “unforgivable”. The ex-MP, who served in the post until this summer, said he would be“ absolutely apoplectic if this had happened” under his watch. Asked by Times Radio if the error was “inevitable or unforgivable”, he said: “I think it’s more the latter. I mean, I would be absolutely apoplectic if this had happened, because the announcement was made in July that this was happening.

“In other words, there was time to go through all the records and to make sure that the right people were covered by the policy. So if I was Secretary of State now, there would be some extremely strong conversations and meetings without coffee.”