The left-wing Labour government's plans to release around 1,700 prisoners this week have raised fears that this could lead to a rise in gang wars and re-victimisation of victims of domestic violence.
In Britain, prison overcrowding has been exacerbated by the government's tough crackdown on recent anti-immigrant riots, and Prime Minister Starmer plans to release around 1,700 prisoners this week.
be Report from Daily MailPrison governors are seeking to “carefully stage” Tuesday's release to prevent direct contact with rival gang members, which is why prison governors will likely seek to stagger releases as prisoners return to British streets.
The announcement comes after the government lowered the required prison sentence for some criminals to just 40 percent of their sentence, down from the previous standard of at least 50 percent. It will not affect serious criminals such as murderers, rapists or terrorists, but perpetrators of domestic violence are reportedly among those being released this week.
London Times Reported Government officials acknowledged that a “significant proportion” of those being released this week are domestic violence perpetrators.
The government attempted to limit such releases by excluding from prison those serving time for crimes such as stalking, nonfatal strangulation, and harassment, or those under restraining orders, but domestic violence perpetrators convicted of crimes not specifically related to domestic violence were likely to be released.
The Government's Domestic Violence Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, said around a third of victims of domestic violence were likely not to be informed that their perpetrator was being released, and warned that this could lead to further violence as perpetrators often knew the victims' home and work addresses.
“There's no doubt that the government has done its best to mitigate those risks but in my view it's clear that risks still exist, particularly when it comes to domestic violence,” she said.
“As changes are made to the prison release system and perceptions of justice and fairness, we must ensure that victims are not left behind.”
“Victims of domestic violence are very concerned about their release date and it causes sleepless nights. Knowing that their abuser is being released, their day-to-day activities are significantly altered by the anxiety of not knowing if the person will comply with the release permit conditions or if they will be released at all. This is extremely stressful under normal circumstances, so when a release date is changed unexpectedly or without their knowledge, it can be very costly for victims.”
There are currently some 88,521 people in UK prisons, the highest number since records began in 2011. The prison population has increased by 1,025 in the past month, mainly due to a crackdown on people involved in last month's anti-immigrant riots.
The immediate focus is on releasing prisoners early to free up space, but the government is facing calls to increase the number of foreign criminals deported from UK prisons. As of the end of March: Foreigners: 10,422 This represents approximately 12% of all prisoners serving prison sentences.
Piers Pottinger, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher said “What we can do that Labour hasn't mentioned is simply deport foreign criminals. There are loads of foreign criminals out there… we should be deporting them to their own countries rather than having them stuffed into our own prisons,” he said in July.
