Rapists and child sex offenders to be barred from early release scheme

Prisoners who committed rape, grooming, and serious child sex offences will be excluded from the forthcoming early release scheme for England and Wales, the government has said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham paused plans to release some prisoners in September as part of a bid to stop unprecedented prison overcrowding after backlash from survivors and victims. The scheme will now restart in October.

Burnham said he "wanted to go even further", but that would not possible without the prison system collapsing and putting the public "at much greater risk".

Lissie Harper, the widow of police officer Andrew Harper, said it was "disgusting" that his killers could be eligible for early release.

PC Harper, 28, was killed in 2019 when he was dragged by a car down a country road as three teenagers fled the scene of the quad bike theft in Berkshire.

His family previously said they had received a letter from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirming the offenders who killed the officer could be included in the scheme.

Burnham had paused the scheme on 23 July to conduct an urgent review.

In a statement announcing the changes on Monday, he said: "I fully understand the anger, anxiety and distress that's been caused. I've heard that loud and clear."

But Lissie Harper said that she was "beyond appalled and bristling with anger to hear the Andrew's killers are soon to be free to roam the streets".

Under the government's changes, it also announced an extra £10 million will go to frontline victim support services, including a new national helpline.

The Sentencing Act was amended in January, with the eligibility for early release based on the length of fixed sentence, rather than the type of offence.

The act already excluded some of the most serious and dangerous offenders, such as murderers serving life sentences or those on extended sentences.

Under Burnham's announced changes, rape and child sexual offences will now also be excluded.

The government said this move does not require changes to the existing legislation before October, though it may make amendments in the future to exclude certain offenders from being released.

Offenders of other crimes serving longer sentences of four years or more will be eligible for release halfway through their sentences rather than two-thirds as had previously been the case.

Those serving less serious sentences could be freed after a third of their time, rather than half.

The changes are due to be phased in, beginning with prisoners serving sentences of less than 575 days, going up to inmates jailed for 12 years or more being eligible for early release in June 2027.

The "presumption" will be that offenders are tagged and will face longer periods of supervision and tough new rules including "restriction zones", Burnham said.

The number of individuals released each time will depend on the make-up of the prison population, which the government says will evolve between now and implementation.

Reacting to the announcement, a prison officer told the BBC that they were "creaking at the seams" and that "delaying the releases until October could mean we simply run out of space".

A probation officer said it is "not clear there's anything actually new here in terms of how probation staff are going to manage people being released earlier".

Separately, those who serve the full sentence and are convicted of rape or serious child sex offences will face stronger surveillance after leaving prison, the government said.

This includes 12 months of GPS monitoring and strengthened community supervision.

Calling the announcement a "U-turn", Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said it "doesn't go far enough".

"Some child sex offenders and killers ... will still be released early. And the trauma of victims being told their abusers may be released can't be undone," he said.

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs criticised the decision to not exclude domestic abuse perpetrators.

"It is critical that no abuser is released in October unless I am confident that victims' safety is not being compromised," she said.