Prisoners have thanked Andy Burnham as they walked free from jail early. The first wave of releases began on Thursday, with 700 criminals expected to be freed across the country.
One prisoner, dressed in shorts, T-shirt and trainers, holding his belongings in a bin bag, said to the press as he left HMP Durham in north east England: “Justice system, what justice system? Thank you Andy Burnham.” Another prisoner gave a thumbs up to cameras as he walked away.
Releases across the country
A man leaving HMP Cardiff, who was asked if he had a message for the Prime Minister, said: “Thank you very much and don’t get me back here again bro.”
The inmates are among thousands the Government says it has been forced to let out to free up space in overcrowded jails and stop the justice system from collapsing. Former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and previous Tory administrations had presided over similar plans.
Numbers and supervision
Some 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in stages over the next year, down from 6,000 after ministers intervened to exclude rapists and the most serious child sex offenders. The number of people behind bars has jumped by more than 1,700 in the past three months.
The prison population in England and Wales was 87,499 on Monday, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data. This is up from 85,761 on June 29 – a rise of 1,738, or 2%.
Reactions and warnings
The MoJ said released offenders will be monitored under the “toughest supervision in British history”. Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said the public would “pay the price” for the decision and the policy was an “insult to victims”. Victims commissioner Claire Waxman warned that the Government’s confidence in the plan “is not yet matched by the reality on the ground”.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris said: “We understand the anxiety victims face ahead of offenders’ release dates, but the greatest danger to victims would be prisons running out of cells for dangerous criminals, which was the crisis this Government inherited. Our plan will make sure this never happens again by building 14,000 prison places while subjecting offenders to the toughest-ever controls, leaving them nowhere to hide and under no doubt that we are watching them.”
