England and Wales Free 700 Prisoners Early as Abuse Victims Fear Attackers' Return
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Oct 1
England and Wales Free 700 Prisoners Early as Abuse Victims Fear Attackers' Return
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Oct 1
Summary
Around 700 offenders are being released early on Thursday in England and Wales, and several women told the BBC they fear abusive ex-partners will come after them once freed.
Prisons are at 98% capacity with only 1,134 spaces left in the adult male estate, driving a scheme that lets inmates serving up to 19 months leave after one-third of their sentence.
Victims including Claire Milne and Karen Haynes said Ministry of Justice letters left them terrified and angry, with Haynes's ex-husband now due out in November after serving seven months of a 21-month term.
A second tranche of 650 prisoners will be released from 13 October, part of 3,800 early releases planned over the next year, with longer-sentence inmates becoming eligible in 2027.
The government says rape, child sex abuse and manslaughter offenders remain excluded and released inmates face tighter licence conditions and expanded electronic tagging, though critics say victim safety and monitoring remain inadequate.