Criminals may be released from jail early or not locked up in the first place as figures uncovered by The Independent show overcrowding in prisons is nearing breaking point.
New statistics reveal the majority of prisons are now dangerously full, with some – including Wandsworth, where ex-soldier Daniel Khalife is accused of escaping – holding 70 per cent more inmates than they should.
The shortfall prompted warnings from the chief of prison governors, former Home Secretary Jack Straw and former Tory prisons minister Rory Stewart, who all warned that early release may have to be considered to tackle the crisis.
Talk of the drastic measure comes as:
The prison governors chief warned the “nuclear button could be pressed very soon”, as the system runs dangerously close to capacity.
Andrea Albutt, president of the Prison Governor’s Association (PGA), said it was “common sense” that the government would have to consider an early release scheme for thousands of prisons, adding: “The fact is we’re overcrowded to the nth degree and there is no capacity left. Once we are full, we are full.”
She said: “We are reaching the critical point. The point of no return. In the adult male estate, there are only a few hundred spaces left, and that will be consumed in the next couple of weeks.”
Mr Straw, who as Labour’s justice secretary oversaw an early release scheme for prisoners, said although he was not updated on the current state of prisons, the government was facing a “perfect storm” arising from “the willful neglect of the whole criminal justice system over the past 13 years”.
Discussing early release, he went on: “The government would find that very uncomfortable, but they may have to do it.
“Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman and Alex Chalk need to realise the state of crisis and that the government is failing in one of its fundamental duties, to keep people safe.”
And Mr Stewart said those in power should “have the courage” to abolish short prison sentences for minor offenders in a bid to tackle the issue.
“The only way of addressing this is for a political party to have the courage to reduce the prison population. They will never be able to build enough prisons to keep up.
“Let’s abolish short sentences in prison for minor offences and let’s reduce the length of sentences. We should be learning from Europe not the United States and locking up fewer people.”
The UK’s prison population has been steadily rising since 2020 and there are now 87,793 inmates locked up. As of September 29, capacity across the whole estate stood at 88,561.
HMP Wandsworth is at 170 per cent occupancy, according to August statistics from the Ministry of Justice. HMP Leeds is currently at 172 per cent occupancy, and HMP Durham is at 171 per cent.
Daniel Khalife has pleaded not guilty to escaping from HMP Wandsworth on September 6 (Lucy North/PA)
The government estimates these figures will only get worse, with the prison population expected to increase to between 93,100 and 106,300 by March 2027.
Justice committee chair Sir Bob Neill has warned that even if the new prisons in the pipeline are completed on time, there would still be a shortfall in March 2025 of 2,300 places.
HM Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor warned prisons may “hit a crisis point in the next six months to a year” but said that temporary measures, such as using police cells under a scheme known as Operation Safeguard, could alleviate this. But he expressed concern that this will eventually come to a head as the prison population grows.
Police cells have been used to house prisoners 871 times between February — when the scheme started — and June.
Justice secretary Alex Chalk (Lucy North/PA)
