An ex-prisoner released early in 2023 says his daughter helped him avoid falling into a cycle of reoffending. Richard Nicholls, now 42, was let out 12 months into his three-year sentence for fraud by misrepresentation, after being jailed in December 2022 for 'making some mistakes' while working a property development job and struggling with gambling.
He was released in December 2023 on a tag as part of an early release scheme, using the extra time to 'rebuild momentum' and spend time with his then three-year-old daughter. Nicholls told Metro: 'If I had done the full three years in prison, I would have lost contact with my family and had no prospects upon leaving.'
Finding Work and Avoiding the Trap
Nicholls secured a job at Timpsons and arranged business plans to get back into his industry. He described his prison experience, saying: 'I was an alien in prison, I was not myself. You meet other prisoners who just spend their lives going in and out of the system – I was close to falling into that trap.'
He added: 'From my experience, the people that were leaving were the good guys. But there are lots of prisoners I have met who should have their sentences doubled.'
Wider Release Scheme Sparks Mixed Reactions
Nicholls' comments come as around 700 prisoners were due to be released early from prisons across the country. Offenders serving sentences for fraud, domestic abuse and coercive control are now eligible for release after a third of their term, in a move designed to free up prison space. Some prisoners appeared jubilant as they left, with one heard shouting 'I'm free, freebie!'
However, domestic abuse victims have expressed disgust at the releases. Leah Morton, 21, was repeatedly left concussed with bruises during a relationship with Joseph Hartley in Bridlington from October 2025 until his arrest in March. Hartley, who continued to attack her after she became pregnant, was jailed for 18 months in April after pleading guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour, intentional strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating at Grimsby Crown Court.
Hartley was released yesterday, just five months later, under the early release scheme, which her family branded 'disgusting'. Morton told Metro: 'He would beat me until I was physically on the floor and he couldn't manage anymore. Even though I was pregnant he would kick my stomach.'
