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
Met Police looks into reports Prince Andrew asked officer to investigate accuser – as William plans ‘ruthless approach’ towards royal
The Metropolitan Police is looking into reports that Prince Andrew asked an officer to help with an attempted smear campaign against the woman who accused him of sexual assault.
Andrew reportedly tried to get his personal protection officer to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against Virginia Giuffre back in 2011, according to the Mail on Sunday.
The Met Police said it was “actively looking into the claims made”.
The prince – who gave up his Duke of York title on Friday – has been approached for comment.
Meanwhile, it has been reported Prince William is planning to take a “ruthless approach” towards Andrew when he is king. The Sunday Times suggests William will ban his uncle from “all aspects of royal life” because of the ongoing risk to the Royal Family‘s reputation after a series of damaging revelations.
A US lawyer has predicted the scandal engulfing the royal “is not going away” and more stories will “leak out”.
Gloria Allred, who represents many of the victims of the late Jeffrey Epstein, believes Andrew will not be “let off the hook” over his links to the convicted paedophile.
“This is not going away. Even though he’s no longer a duke, and Sarah Ferguson is no longer a duchess, it’s not going away,” she told Sky News.
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Who pushed Andrew to drop his titles?
Andrew relinquished his Duke of York title and remaining honours on Friday evening, after a series of fresh stories linked to the late Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein. She died in April, aged 41, with her family saying she “lost her life to suicide”.
Andrew will retain the dukedom, which can only be removed by an Act of Parliament, but will not use it.
Asked whether the government had plans to legislate to remove Andrew’s titles, Energy Security Ed Miliband told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme that they would be “guided by the palace” and the Royal Family.
“I think it’s really important as a government minister that we allow the Royal Family to make its decisions on these questions,” he added.
“Prince Andrew has given up these titles by agreement with His Majesty the King and I think that’s, you know, that’s obviously the position.”
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Prince Andrew urged ‘to come clean’
‘It’s not over’
Ms Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 – allegations he has always denied.
Her posthumous memoirs, which are released on Tuesday, claim Andrew insisted she sign a one-year gag order – to prevent details of her allegations tarnishing the late Queen’s platinum jubilee.
Read more:
Why Andrew hasn’t given up being a prince
Lingering dread over what else could still emerge
And earlier this week, emails emerged showing that Andrew remained in contact with Epstein, several months after he said he had stopped contact.
The former duke paid to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.
Ms Allred said: “The fact that Virginia is now deceased – may she rest in peace – doesn’t mean it’s over for Prince Andrew. It’s not over. More will come to leak out.”
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Windsor’s take on Prince Andrew
Reports of attempted smear campaign
It has now been reported that Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011, asking him to investigate.
He is said to have emailed the late Queen’s then-deputy press secretary and told him of his request to his protection officer, and also suggested Ms Giuffre had a criminal record, the Mail on Sunday reported.
A Met Police spokesperson told Sky News: “We are aware of media reporting and are looking into the claims made.”
The prince’s alleged attempt, on which the Met officer is not said to have acted, came in 2011, hours before the publication of the famous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre in London, which he has claimed was doctored.
The Mail on Sunday said it obtained the email from disclosures held by the US congress.
“It would also seem she has a criminal record in the states,” Andrew said to the former press secretary, according to one email published by the newspaper. “I have given her DoB and social security number for investigation with XXX the on duty PPO.”
Ms Giuffre’s family responded, the newspaper said, saying she did not have a criminal record.
Read more from Sky News:
How Prince Andrew allegations unfolded
Everything we know about titles decision
William and Camilla’s influential roles
In her book, titled Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir Of Surviving Abuse And Fighting For Justice, she wrote, according to The Telegraph: “As devastating as this interview was for Prince Andrew, for my legal team it was like an injection of jet fuel.
“Its contents would not only help us build an ironclad case against the prince but also open the door to potentially subpoenaing his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.”
The Duke of York and the Prince of Wales at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last month. Pic: PA
Andrew, who remains a prince and continues to live in the Crown Estate property Royal Lodge, said on Friday that the “continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family”.
He insisted he was putting his “family and country first” and would stop using “my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me”.
Ms Allred told Sky News she felt Andrew’s statement on Friday, describing the scandal as a “distraction”, was an “insult” to Epstein’s victims.
“What it’s saying [the statement] is it’s continued bad PR for the monarchy,” she said.
“All right, I’m happy about this small consequence that he has to pay… no longer a duke, but look, he’s living a privileged life while many victims are still suffering from the harm that was done by many people involved with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Ms Giuffre’s family has urged the King to go further and take away Andrew’s prince title.
Pete Aitken says his daughter Hannah would still be alive if she hadn’t been sent to a series of “failing” mental health hospitals, which made her increasingly unwell.
Warning: This article contains references to suicide
Hannah Aitken was 22 when she took her own life two years ago. Her death has left her family in turmoil.
“I think about Hannah every hour of every day, more than once, every hour, every day,” her dad Pete said.
Throughout the family home are photos, candles and purple flowers, Hannah’s favourite colour. Her parents have planted a tree in the garden where her beloved trampoline once stood.
Pete Aitken, whose daughter Hannah died by suicide in 2023
Hannah had autism and ADHD and struggled with her mental health. In 2017, she was sent to Huntercombe Hospital-Stafford. It was in special measures when she arrived.
Pete says the unit made Hannah worse. “I don’t believe that they gave her any care or treatment there that helped her.”
Over a period of four years, Hannah was sent to six different mental health hospitals. The majority were publicly funded and privately run.
Three were rated by the care regulator, the CQC, either ‘inadequate or ‘requires improvement’. Two of the units were closed down while Hannah was a patient.
“That to me is an indication of how bad the system is, and how bad the care that she received was,” Pete said.
“All they could do was… like prison keep her safe, but not give her any quality of life. They took all that away from her.”
‘I don’t believe that they gave her any care’, Pete says
Over the years, Sky News has investigated failings within the mental health system, including the Huntercombe Group, which ran a number of hospitals.
Hannah emailed Sky News in 2023 following one of our reports to share her story.
She wrote: “I will never forget what I was put through… I put up with so much and it’s only now I realised it wasn’t right, for years I blamed myself.”
Hannah never fully recovered from her hospital admissions. In September 2023, she took a fatal dose of poison, which she had bought online.
Her family are now campaigning for a change in the law governing poisons.
Family photos of Hannah Aitken, who died in 2023
Her dad said: “One gram of this poison is lethal. We found out from Hannah’s inquest she ordered a kilogramme of 99.6% purity.
“There is a legitimate use for it, but we understand that the concentration for that is something like less than 1%.”
Hannah’s death once again raises questions about why the NHS outsources mental health services to failing private providers.
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An NHS England spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Hannah’s family at this incredibly difficult time.
“The NHS has repeatedly made clear that all services must provide safe, high-quality care, irrespective of whether they are NHS or independent sector-led, and we continue to work closely with the CQC to monitor, identify and take appropriate action where it is needed.”
Elli Investments Group, the owners of The Huntercombe Group until 2021, has said they regret that these hospitals, which were independently managed, failed to meet expectations
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
UK
Prince William plans ‘ruthless approach’ towards Prince Andrew, as lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims predicts further leaks
Prince William is planning to take a “ruthless approach” towards Prince Andrew when he is king, according to reports, as a US lawyer predicts the scandal engulfing the royal “is not going away” and more stories will “leak out”.
The Sunday Times suggests William will ban his uncle from “all aspects of royal life” because of the ongoing risk to the Royal Family‘s reputation after a series of damaging revelations.
It comes amid reports that Andrew tried to get the Metropolitan Police to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against his sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre back in 2011.
Gloria Allred, who represents many of the victims of the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, believes he will not be “let off the hook”.
“This is not going away. Even though he’s no longer a duke, and Sarah Ferguson is no longer a duchess, it’s not going away,” the US lawyer told Sky News.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Who pushed Andrew to drop his titles?
Andrew relinquished his Duke of York title and remaining honours on Friday evening, after a series of fresh stories linked to the late Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein. She died in April, aged 41, with her family saying said she “lost her life to suicide”.
She alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, allegations he has always denied.
“The fact that Virginia is now deceased – may she rest in peace – doesn’t mean it’s over for Prince Andrew. It’s not over. More will come to leak out,” Ms Allred added.
Ms Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs, which are released on Tuesday, claim Andrew insisted she sign a one-year gag order – to prevent details of her allegations tarnishing the late Queen’s platinum jubilee.
And earlier this week, emails emerged showing that Andrew remained in contact with Epstein, several months after he said he had stopped contact.
The former duke paid to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Windsor’s take on Prince Andrew
Reports of attempted smear campaign
It has now been reported that Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011, asking him to investigate.
He is said to have emailed the late Queen’s then-deputy press secretary and told him of his request to his protection officer, and also suggested Ms Giuffre had a criminal record, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Sky News has contacted the Met for comment. A spokesperson for the force told the PA news agency: “We are aware of media reporting and are looking into the claims made.”
The prince’s alleged attempt, on which the Met officer is not said to have acted, came in 2011, hours before the publication of the famous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre in London, which he has claimed was doctored.
The Mail on Sunday said it obtained the email from disclosures held by the US congress.
“It would also seem she has a criminal record in the states,” Andrew said to the former press secretary, according to one email published by the newspaper. “I have given her DoB and social security number for investigation with XXX the on duty PPO.”
Ms Giuffre’s family responded, saying she did not have a criminal record, the newspaper said.
Read more from Sky News:
How Prince Andrew allegations unfolded
Everything we know about titles decision
William and Camilla’s influential roles
In her book, titled Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir Of Surviving Abuse And Fighting For Justice, she wrote, according to The Telegraph: “As devastating as this interview was for Prince Andrew, for my legal team it was like an injection of jet fuel.
“Its contents would not only help us build an ironclad case against the prince but also open the door to potentially subpoenaing his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.”
The Duke of York and the Prince of Wales at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last month. Pic: PA
Andrew, who remains a prince and continues to live in the Crown Estate property Royal Lodge, said on Friday that the “continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family”.
He insisted he was putting his “family and country first” and would stop using “my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me”.
Ms Allred told Sky News she felt Andrew’s statement on Friday, describing the scandal as a “distraction”, was an “insult” to Epstein’s victims.
“What it’s saying [the statement] is it’s continued bad PR for the monarchy,” she said.
“All right, I’m happy about this small consequence that he has to pay… no longer a duke, but look, he’s living a privileged life while many victims are still suffering from the harm that was done by many people involved with Jeffrey Epstein.”
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