Lucy Gilder
Live page reporter

There were 80,829 incomplete crown court cases at the end of June, external in England and Wales - a record high.

The number of cases waiting a year or more to conclude also reached a record high of 23,706.

The biggest share of open cases was for violence against the person offences (30%).

The Institute for Government think tank cites several reasons, external for the rising crown court backlog, including austerity-era cuts to justice spending and staffing, high workloads, poor administration, and tech issues.

The large number of open cases puts strain on the prison system because of the thousands of defendants who are remanded in custody waiting for trial or sentencing.

People on remand made up nearly a fifth of the prison population, external at the end of June. That figure has been falling since last year but is still higher than around the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

In response to the first early releases, a prison governor tells me: "This is a much needed relief from the pressure we’ve been facing in terms of prison capacity for some time.

"It will probably allow us to get some much needed maintenance work done. But it isn’t going to solve the overarching problem."

"We’re worried about the number of people we’re releasing who are going to be recalled - that is returned to prison for breaching their licence conditions or reoffending," they add.

There were 51,419 licence recalls in the year ending March 2026, up from 40,259 in the previous year - a 28% increase.

Simon Thake
reporting from HMP Moorland

At about 08:30, the big green gate here at HMP Moorland opened and first prisoner came out. Dressed in a tracksuit, carrying a black bag, he walked past us.

He was clear he didn't want to be recorded by cameras about his experience in the category C South Yorkshire prison, which holds about 1,000 men and young offenders.

However, he did tell us he wanted to get to Bradford and was planning on starting his journey by hopping on a bus at the stop just outside the prison and heading into nearby Doncaster.

The man said he was part of the early release scheme and described being "delighted" to get out. He didn't want to talk about why he had been imprisoned in the first place.

Rather than the bus, as we were talking a couple of his friends pulled up in a white car, and after emotional scenes, they jumped in and headed off.

Colleagues at jails in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire tell me they are seeing the first prisoners released from their sites.

However, it appears this may be a long process with one reporter being told it could take "most of the day".

Linsey Smith
Correspondent at HMP Humber, East Yorkshire

Utter joy from one young man who walked out of HMP Humber carrying a large holdall and wearing a tracksuit and trainers.

He was met by two other men who arrived in a car. They hugged and cheered as they greeted him inside the HMP Humber compound, surrounded by prison officers.

All three got into the vehicle. They slowed down and wound down the window as they approached us, with the young man who we saw leaving prison laughing and shouting: "I'm free, freebie!"

As they drove away cheering, he did not answer our question about whether his release was early.

Guy Lambert
Society reporter

The gates are opening and the first inmates are being released here at HMP Brixton.

David, 50, tells us he has been released after serving a third of his 20 weeks sentence after he was convicted of stealing a pair of glasses from Selfridges.

He says he doesn’t believe the early release scheme is going to work because inmates aren’t being supported on the outside.

“Stop sending people to prison in the first place. Help them before they get there,” he says. “I’ve been in and out of prison all my life. It’s help I need.

“They are setting us up to fail so I just end up back in jail.”

Kirsty Pellant, a deepfake victim who discovered that hundreds of her photographs had been used to create a fake identity online, says uncertainty over the early release scheme is "adding to everybody's anxiety".

She has been told her perpetrator is eligible for the scheme but only knows he will not be released this month.

Kirsty tells the BBC Radio 4's Today programme that victims have been left in "such a dangerous position" as they have no idea when offenders will be released and therefore cannot prepare themselves for such a scenario.

"It's very good and well for the government to say there will be extra supervisions and everything else but what will that look like in reality?," she asks, adding that victims have not been reassured "in any way that we are going to be protected".

"That uncertainty is definitely adding to everybody's anxiety about this," Kirsty says. "How do we know offenders are going to come out and interventions have happened to make sure that they're not going to be as much of a danger then they were at conviction point."

"The measures all seem to be reactive and there doesn't seem to be preventative measures to keep us safe," she adds.

Adina Campbell
UK correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

A report earlier this week found that almost half of electronic tags used to track offenders' movements are not fitted on time.

The report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) says some criminals are waiting up to five months to be fitted with a tag, leading to repeated breaches of court and prison orders.

Only 55% of GPS and radio frequency tags were fitted on time, while 60% of alcohol monitoring tags were fitted promptly, according to the report's findings.

In some cases, there were waits of more than two weeks for the equipment while one in 10 people waited five months to be tagged after the required time.

Some of the reasons for tags not being fitted on time included individuals not making themselves available.

Most of the prisoners being released early, starting from today, will require tagging.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

A Ministry of Justice document sets out all of the offences, external that have been excluded from the early release scheme, using the precise wording of the crimes as they are described in court.

If you experienced a crime and want to work out whether the perpetrator could be eligible for earlier release this detailed document is a good place to look.

To get a rough idea of when someone would be released, you need to know:

1. The wording of the crime (available in the document)
2. Their sentence length - and whether the judge said they’d serve one half or two-thirds of that in a cell
3. Subtract any time they spent in prison waiting for their case to be completed

A hypothetical example: someone imprisoned for 18 months last March, with no time waiting on remand, would be likely to be released now, if their crime is eligible. They’d normally serve nine months in prison and the rest on a community licence. They’ll now do six months in jail and 12 in the community.

Wedaeli Chibelushi
Live page reporter

Image source, Unlock

The early release scheme faces criticism but some believe it is a necessary intervention.

Unlock, a charity helping former prisoners rebuild their lives, argues that “people should be given a second chance”.

“The key to success will be the prioritisation of rehabilitation and reintegration activities in prison and on probation,” Unlock chief executive Paula Harriott tells the BBC.

Elsewhere, the Prison Advice & Care Trust (PACT) charity says it “acknowledges the necessity of the scheme” which “buys time” for prisons.

But PACT CEO Andy Keen-Downs says the scheme isn’t a solution.

“What we need now is a long-term plan that tackles soaring recall rates and helps people build better lives on release,” he says.

Alex Moss
Reporting from HMP Leeds

Myself and other media are gathered outside HMP Leeds, known locally as simply Armley.

The category B prison, just outside the city centre, receives nearly 600 new arrivals a month and holds more than 1,000 adult men.

A report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, published in May, said the prison service had failed to make any meaningful progress in addressing the "chronic overcrowding" at the prison.

The report added: "The reduction of 20 spaces in the operational capacity was far too small to have a positive impact on a population of over 1,000."

There’s been a steady stream of prison officers arriving for their shifts so far this morning but there is no sign yet of any inmates being released.

There’s a small cluster of reporters and photographers across from the prison's main entrance awaiting any prisoners who will be freed into the autumnal sunshine here.

In the next few minutes, we're expecting the first phase of the early release scheme to begin. Prisoners are set to be released in phases determined by their sentences - this timeline is based on Ministry of Justice estimates:

• From today: 700 offenders serving up to 19 months
• From 13 October: 650 prisoners who have been serving sentences of between 19 months and two years and five months
• From 10 November: 650 offenders serving up to three years and two months
• From 8 December: 550 offenders serving up to four years and three months
• From 12 January: 600 offenders serving up to five years and nine months
• From 9 February: 500 offenders serving up to seven years and six months
• From 9 March: 200 offenders serving up to nine years
• From 13 April: 200 offenders serving up to 10 years
• From 11 May: 250 offenders serving up to 12 years
• From 9 June: 250 offenders serving more than 12 years

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

Probation staff will be responsible for monitoring the early releases in the community. They make sure they follow the terms of their release such as sticking to curfews and not taking drugs.

This morning I received a message from a probation officer: “I have no idea how we’ll cope with this influx of offenders - it’s just too much."

The Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said in a report published this week that thousands who should be electronically tagged haven’t been. GPS tags monitor the movements of offenders and can detect whether someone has entered an area they’re restricted from.

The government says its new restriction zones will tightly control the movements of serious offenders - and that its rolling out the biggest ever expansion of electronic tagging to monitor offenders in the community

Gemma Dawson
Senior reporter and presenter, BBC Look North

The sun is coming up outside Lincoln Prison and for the last half an hour a steady stream of prison staff have been arriving here for their shifts.

Otherwise, it’s been very quiet here so far with the prison gates remaining closed.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

When an offender is due to be released on licence, a senior prison official explains the conditions they will be under and that they must work with their probation officer.

In an ideal world, they should not be leaving prison without somewhere to initially stay - but often offenders leave with nowhere to go, particularly if they are estranged from family.

The licence conditions are handed to the prisoner and a record is sent to the police. The all-important first meeting with a probation officer follows.

The new rules requiring almost all those leaving prison on a continuing sentence to be tagged. New tools mean those tags can be monitored in real-time - a bit like those apps we all use to find where we left our phones.

But just this week the chief inspector of probation reported that almost half of tags used to track offenders' movements are not fitted on time. There is a big, big challenge for government to get this right.

Linsey Smith
Correspondent, BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

There’s plenty of activity but so far it’s only from prison guards in uniform arriving for a shift changeover.

The BBC understands that 700 prisoners are due to be released across the country today. They have not specified which location inmates will leave from.

The scheme prompted public campaigning against early release. But in a statement, the government said that the offenders leaving today will be subject to the toughest supervision in British history, with new powers to restrict their movements coming.

Emma Glasbey
Yorkshire home and social affairs correspondent

Helen Duncanson from North Yorkshire has been suffering from "night terrors and panic" after being told her abuser could be eligible for early release.

Ex-partner Michael Boyes, 40, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in January after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour.

But Helen has been informed he could be freed in March 2027 after serving only 14 months.

She described feeling "panic" when she was told. "I genuinely didn't sleep a wink that night because I was having heart palpitations and I couldn't breathe," she said.

"How dare they release these violent individuals? How do you, as a government, have the right to overrule a judge?

"That's my question and no one has been able to answer that."

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said in a statement: "Release from prison does not mean freedom, and we have designed the toughest licence conditions yet with victim safety at the centre."

Read more on Helen's story here.

The charity Victim Support is launching a new dedicated helpline for victims and survivors who are worried about an offender being released from prison earlier than expected.

Chief Executive Katie Kempen tells BBC Breakfast too many victims struggle to get information and have to deal with poor communication from authorities.

Kempen says some victims have received letters informing them that perpetrators are being released but others haven't been told and are finding the situation "traumatising." She says her organisation is trying to help with "unmet needs".

Kempen says the aim is to give victims emotional and practical support and in the case of domestic violence, work closely with the Women's Aid charity.

Find links to Victim Support and Women's Aid at BBC Action Line

By Sima Kotecha, Senior UK correspondent, with Jade Thompson and Claire Ellison

Claire Milne's ex-husband, Robert Dales, was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of coercive control and possessing offensive weapons in March this year.

But she was recently informed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that Dales, 36, would be released early.

"I am scared that he will come after me. I don't want to die," she says. "I am not a silly woman - I know that I've been in a very high-risk domestic abuse relationship and I know what he's capable of because I lived it."

She said she was "incredibly angry" with the government, who were "not listening to victims".

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

According to sources, today’s early releases are expected to begin at around 08:30 BST.

They will include people with convictions for fraud, domestic abuse, and coercive control. They've been serving sentences of just under 19 months, and are being released after completing a third of their prison term, rather than 40%.

This is about creating more room in overcrowded prisons - with recent figures showing there are just over 1,100 vacant beds in the adult male estates.

The government says new restriction zones will tightly control the movements of sexual and violent offenders - and that its rolling out the biggest ever expansion of electronic tagging to monitor offenders in the community... but several victims have told the BBC they’re not convinced they’ll be properly protected from people who harmed them.

Image source, Thames Valley Police/PA Wire

PC Andrew Harper, 28, from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, died in 2019 when he was dragged behind the getaway car of three teenagers who had fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire.

Two of the teens - Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in July 2020.

Under an earlier version of the government's scheme, the pair would have been eligible for early release after serving half their sentences.

But over the summer the government came under pressure after PC Harper's family launched a high profile campaign against their early release. His mother, Debbie Adlam, described the proposed early release of his killers as "a slap in the face and an insult".

There were calls from 50 UK police chiefs for emergency legislation to prevent their release.

In August, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced changes to the early release scheme so that Bowers and Cole would remain behind bars. Anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, would be excluded from the scheme, he said.