Hundreds of crime victims are unaware that the perpetrator will be released on Tuesday, despite their requests that he not be released, the Victims Protection Committee claimed.
As the government prepares to release 1,700 prisoners to ease overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales, Helen Newlove said some victims were “unaware of the prisoner releases” and were unable to seek protective measures.
The claim came hours after No 10 warned that without early release of prisoners there would be nowhere to jail offenders and the country would face “unchecked crime”.
Ms Newlove said: “From the outset, I have sought assurances that all affected victims would be notified of any dates for early release and given the opportunity to request protective measures.”
“We understand that this has not been possible in all cases and that some victims may not know that their perpetrators have been released early. We recognise that it can be difficult to reach certain groups of victims, but this is unfortunate and must be addressed.”
A Whitehall source confirmed that a “significant minority” of victims had not received any warning.
The release of offenders will begin from 8am from prisons across England and Wales. Prisons where dozens of offenders are due to be released include Brixton, Humber, Berwyn and Risley prisons.
Under the system, some prisoners could be released after serving just 40 percent of their sentence.
Downing Street acknowledged it would be “extremely difficult” for victims to learn that offenders would be released before completing their sentences.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “As the Prime Minister said this weekend, the Prime Minister should not be in a position where we don't have enough prison capacity.”
“That's why we made the decision immediately. Otherwise we would have had a situation where our prisons were completely overcrowded, crime was uncontrollable on our streets and police were unable to make arrests.”
Police Minister Diana Johnson told the BBC: “Probation officers are working hard to make sure there are plans in place for those who are released tomorrow.”
“People are released on parole and can be recalled if they commit further crimes. So there are a lot of measures already in place to make sure that tomorrow works out as well as we hope, but obviously nobody wants to do this.”
Perpetrators of serious violent crimes, domestic violence and sexual offences are supposed to be exempt from the scheme, known as SDS40, but anti-domestic violence campaigners say the list of exemptions is not comprehensive enough.
The charity Refuge warned there could be “significant implications”.
“Victim contact systems are inadequate and only target serious sexual or violent crimes where the perpetrator faces a prison sentence of 12 months or more, meaning victims may not even know when their perpetrator will be released,” the charity said.
“Approximately 10% of cases resulting in sentences of 12 months or less are related to domestic violence. In a further 10% of cases, the offender is on probation for domestic violence.”
Harriet Wistrich, director of the Women's Justice Centre, said: “We know that many victims of domestic violence will be very anxious about the proposed releases, and although there are specific exclusions for a range of specific domestic violence offences, there remains a risk that some violent offenders will not fall within these exclusions.”
“In a context where there is a massive under-resourced probation service, there will be real fears from survivors that they may not receive adequate protection if offenders know where they are.”
Probation officers have been given just one week's notice to prepare some prisoners for release amid concerns that many may struggle to find housing and appropriate support.
Officers are usually given more than three months to set up services to help monitor and rehabilitate serious offenders.
Martin Jones, chief probation officer for England and Wales, said delays in information about who is being released would put “enormous additional pressure” on probation officers.
“The eternal optimist says this will work, but the realist in me says some of those released will reoffend, and a small percentage of those will be serious offenders,” he said.
In further developments, prison watchdogs have released a highly critical annual report finding that many prisons are severely overcrowded and understaffed, with violence being one of the most pressing concerns in more than a third of facilities.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said that of the 32 closed prisons inspected, 30 were rated “poor” or “insufficiently good” in inspectors' purposeful activity assessment.
“Far from taking part in activities and interventions to reduce the risk of reoffending and maintain inmates' mental and physical health while in prison, inspectors found a sharp increase in illegal drug use, self-harm and violent behaviour,” the report said.
Violence was one of the most pressing concerns cited by inspectors in 14 of the 39 prisons and youth homes inspected, with Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire seeing a 55% increase in violence.
Mr Taylor said: “Early release schemes are welcomed as a short-term breathing space, but our report highlights the worrying lack of work being done to prepare men in particular for release, even without the additional pressures that these schemes impose, and are not, in themselves, a solution to decades of underinvestment and stagnation in vital public protection services.”
“Prisons must be equipped to do what they are meant to do – reduce the risk of further crime and increased victimization of crime.”
