Prisoner let out under early release system describes chaos amid chronic overcrowding
Chris* had spent more than two years in prison, serving a sentence for grievous bodily harm (GBH.)
To his surprise, he was released just weeks ago – a month early – under a controversial scheme to ease overcrowding in prisons across England and Wales. But he paints a picture of chaos.
Describing it as a “rollercoaster”, he says there was a “mix-up” and “the staff didn’t really know what was going on”.
It started when he was on the phone to his family from inside prison. “They said, ‘we’re going to see you today, you’re getting released’.
“And I said: ‘No I’m not’.”
His family had been given the wrong date. His release wouldn’t happen for another week. And yet the chaos, according to Chris, only continued.
He was selected for early release and told he was a “low risk” to the public, but the early release prisoner scheme comes under continued scrutiny.
The Prison Governors Association today warned the scheme would not have sufficient impact to ease overcrowding, and suggested the prison service could find itself unable to accept prisoners from courts “within weeks” because jails are so full.
Meanwhile, leading domestic abuse charities have shared with Sky News a letter, sent to justice secretary Alex Chalk, raising serious concerns about the scheme.
The end of the custody supervised licence scheme (ECSL) means eligible prisoners can now be released up to 70 days before the end of their sentences.
It allows offenders serving sentences of less than four years to leave prison ahead of time.
The government first launched the measure in October 2023, initially allowing prisoners to be released 18 days early.
Anyone convicted of a sexual, terrorist or serious violent offence is excluded.
But probation staff have consistently raised fears about the extent and pace at which the measure is being expanded, saying the release of prisoners is being sped up without the time for sufficient checks.
A probation worker told Sky News: “Just because they’re not doing a long sentence, that doesn’t mean people are not deemed to be a high risk in the public domain. And we wouldn’t have time to put in place safeguards, or do any checks.”
‘I was very angry and upset’
On the morning Chris was freed, he says there was a knock on his cell door and he was told to head down to reception. Once there, he says he saw other prisoners being released, their discharge grants being handed out.
But when it was his turn, he says he was told his name wasn’t on the list.
“At that point, I was very angry and upset,” he said.
“A week before, they’d told me I was getting released and now they were doing the same thing again.”
Frustrated, he sat in the prison reception for hours, while his family waited outside.
After about three hours, he says a prison worker appeared and apologetically explained that since it was an early release, there was a “mix-up with the systems”.
His case hadn’t been transferred from one computer system to the other.
This is just one man’s story, but it shows the issues with an emergency measure that has been regularly extended with little notice for those handling and processing offenders – finding them accommodation, or providing the necessary support on leaving prison.
The letter sent to the justice secretary from leading women’s charities, including Refuge and Women’s Aid, calls for perpetrators of domestic abuse and stalking to be exempt from the scheme.
“There is a significant disconnect between government rhetoric on VAWG [Violence Against Women And Girls] and announcements such as the expansion of the early release scheme, that will place survivors, and women and girls more broadly, at risk from dangerous offenders of VAWG,” it reads.
“We are prioritising solving a problem about prison overcrowding over the safety of victims,” the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, told Sky News.
Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, says she has ‘genuine fear for victims’
“I have genuine fears for victims,” she said.
These calls follow the publication of a report into HMP Lewes by the Chief Inspector of Prisons.
An inspection found “safe risk management” being undermined by the early release scheme. It cited one example of a prisoner who had their release date brought forward despite deeming him a “risk to children”, with a “history of stalking, domestic abuse, and being subject to a restraining order”.
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said the eligibility net for this scheme was “cast fairly wide”.
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor
“Inevitably, if you have an early release scheme and the parameters are simply that if you serve less than four years, you’re not a sex offender, a terrorist or a life sentence prisoner… there are some people within that net who will be designated as high risk of harm.”
The overcrowding crisis in prisons extends beyond the early release scheme.
In recent weeks, a number of measures have been triggered by the government to help ease capacity.
Operation Early Dawn, invoked earlier this month, will see defendants in police custody remain there, rather than being transferred to magistrates’ courts for bail hearings, in case there is no space in jail cells to accommodate them.
Police are also being told to consider pausing “non-priority” arrests until there is enough capacity in prisons across England and Wales.
Figures published on Friday showed 87,089 people are currently behind bars in England and Wales.
The number of people that can be held in “safe and decent accommodation” in prison, known as the “certified normal accommodation” or “uncrowded capacity”, is considered by the Ministry of Justice to be 79,615.
Read more
Emergency measure triggered to deal with prison overcrowding in England
Prisoners could be freed more than two months early to ease overcrowding
That means the current overall system is at 109% capacity, or overcrowded.
Chris’s story is symptomatic of a prison system that is overpopulated and under pressure.
He believes it is right that offenders are let out early to relieve capacity, but says he appreciates concerns the public might have.
‘Everyone deserves a second chance’
“I learned a lot,” he said.
“At the end of the day, people learn and obviously people change. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
The government has previously said that the ECSL scheme is about protecting the public, designed to ensure there is enough space to keep putting the most ‘serious’ offenders behind bars.
It maintains there are ‘strict eligibility criteria’ for releasing people, and says the Prison Service retains discretion to prevent the release of any offender where early release presents a higher risk than if they were released at their automatic release date.
Ministers have previously said that any released offender remains subject to probation supervision and stringent licence conditions.
*Chris is a pseudonym we are using to protect his identity.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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