Serious sex offenders and other violent criminals are set to be released under Labour’s prisoner early release scheme despite earlier government assurances that such serious criminals would be excluded from the policy.
Known as the “SDS40” scheme, it is due to commence next week as part of Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood’s proposals to crack down on prison overcrowding.
Channel 4 News reports tonight of Probation Service whistleblowers detailing cases of a “loophole” that means prisoners with violent or sex offences, who are serving consecutive sentences where the end date takes into account a sentence for a less serious offence, could be released early.
This means they will qualify under SDS40 to be released sooner than had been set at the point of conviction, reducing the time available to plan for them returning to the community.
Sources have come forward with serious concerns over public protection, citing the “loophole” in the policy, as one representative from NAPO – the trade union for probation staff – characterises the proposals as “a roll of the dice”.
The programme has learned of one case of a prisoner set to be released four months early after serving a long sentence for serious sexual offences.
He qualifies for SDS40 because he has now served the duration of the sentences imposed for the sexual offences and has a shorter consecutive sentence for a less serious offence which the prison has identified under SDS40.
This means he can leave prison within weeks, sources told Channel 4.
His victims had expected he would remain in prison until next year.
Speaking anonymously, one whistleblower within the Probation Service said it is difficult to fast-track him to the required multi agency monitoring schemes (MAPPA Level 2) with the reduced timeframe.
The loss of four months’ release planning is of concern to the professionals associated with his case, they said.
The source told Channel 4: “It’s a definite loophole to me. It doesn’t fit with justice. It certainly doesn’t fit with victims’ rights.
“This legislation – this statutory instrument – was drafted very quickly and it hasn’t actually come into effect yet. It comes into effect on the 10th September. So, I think in the light of this – and there will be other cases – I think it should be looked at where there are multiple sentences. And especially where the longest sentence is a serious offence – like a sex offence – why should someone benefit from a system when the general premise is that there are exemptions that include that very type of offending.”
NAPO told Channel 4 News of another frontline probation worker reporting similar concerns.
They said: “I have a high-risk male convicted of Stalking which would exclude him from the early release. However, as he has a driving offence he is now eligible for early release. This appears to make a mockery of what the Government said but also of risk issues”.
It comes as new figures obtained by Channel 4 News FactCheck reveal that the Probation Service has been working over capacity in every month since January 2023.
The data, which covers the period up to June 2024 and was obtained via a freedom of information request, shows that the average probation officer has the equivalent of six days’ work to complete in a five-day working week.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told Channel 4: “The new Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with prisons on the point of collapse. It has been forced to introduce an early release programme to stop a crisis that would have overwhelmed the criminal justice system, meaning we would no longer be able to lock up dangerous criminals and protect the public.
“The new Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood announced in July that she was scrapping the previous Government’s early release scheme, replacing it with a system which gives probation staff more time to prepare for a prisoner’s release. The Government has also set out plans to recruit over 1,000 new trainee probation officers by March 2025 to meet additional demand.”
