More than 9,000 domestic abusers could be freed early under Labour's prison release scheme, according to Tory analysis of Ministry of Justice data. The figure, reported by the Daily Mail, covers offenders convicted of breach of restraining orders, stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour and intentional strangulation.
Scheme details spark outrage
Around 3,000 perpetrators a year are expected to walk free before completing their full sentences. Once released, they will be fitted with electronic tags to monitor their movements and alert authorities if they stray outside set zones. The policy excludes rapists and the most serious sex offenders but leaves violent abusers eligible.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy branded the decision “disgraceful”. He said: “Labour had to be dragged into this U-turn on [excluding rapists from] early release after campaigning from victims. But it clearly does not go far enough and is putting victims’ lives at risk. The clock is ticking… Labour need to ensure the remaining sex offenders and other serious criminals are excluded.”
Victims' groups and MPs voice alarm
Reform UK’s equality spokesman Suella Braverman accused the Government of “throwing thousands of traumatised victims to the wolves”. She added: “Not only is it deeply traumatising for these victims to know their attackers will be free to roam the streets nearby – many will be literally fearing for their life.”
Domestic Abuse Commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs said that if the numbers are accurate the Government must be transparent about the scale of releases “so we can be confident the right level of resource is in place to keep victims safe”.
Labour backbenchers also voiced alarm. Stoke-on-Trent South MP Allison Gardner said the prospect of early release is “frightening” for survivors and their safety “must come first”. Rotherham’s Sarah Champion warned that “patchy rehabilitation” and shorter time served offered “no reassurance that these manipulative aggressors will have changed”.
Background and response
The scheme follows a pause ordered by PM Andy Burnham after it emerged the killers of PC Andrew Harper could have benefited. An urgent review was promised to keep public safety the overriding priority. Yet the officer’s family learned this week that two of his killers remain eligible, prompting threats of legal action.
From October, offenders previously considered for release after two-thirds of their sentence will now be freed after half. Less serious criminals will serve only a third instead of half.
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones insisted anyone released would be “under the strictest licensing arrangements”. A Ministry of Justice spokesman dismissed the Conservative calculation as “speculative”, saying it wrongly assumes prison populations and sentencing patterns will remain unchanged and counts people who have not yet offended.
Warnings of lives lost
Baroness Bertin, co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on domestic violence, warned lives “will certainly be lost if this isn’t thought through properly”. The threat abusers pose on release, she said, “can’t be underestimated”. Alice Russell-Harris of the charity Refuge said the decision risks undermining the Prime Minister’s mission to halve violence against women.
With electronic monitoring already stretched and prison recalls up 28% this year, critics argue the policy puts capacity ahead of safety for those who have already suffered.
