A convicted drug dealer who has been freed six months early from his jail sentence says Sir Keir Starmer’s early release scheme has made him a “lifelong Labour voter”. The Mail has the story.
Djaber Benallaoua, 20, praised the “very good” Labour policy and boasted that he’s “gonna get lit” to celebrate his early freedom after leaving HMP Isis this morning.
He is one of 1,700 inmates being released this morning, with another of his fellow inmates insisting “I’m a good boy now” as he vowed never to go back behind bars.
At HMP Wandsworth the celebrations started early, with one group of people turning up with bottles of sparkling wine to greet people who were being set free.
The first inmates were released from prisons across the country this morning under plans to deal with prison overcrowding despite warnings that a third of those released will reoffend.
More than 5,000 are to be set loose over the next six weeks, with everyone eligible for release apart from violent criminals jailed for more than four years.
Martin Jones, the Chief Inspector of Probation, says that despite the good intentions of dealing with the crisis facing the criminal justice system, it is a “certainty” some will go on to commit more crimes.
And the Chief Inspector of Prison, Charlie Taylor, also expressed his misgivings that the overcrowding of jails had not been conducive to making them “less likely to reoffend when they come out” and that actually releasing them was “risky”.
As the sun rose in London today, the first inmate to be released from HMP Isis, Category C young offenders institution in Thamesmead, south east London, walked out with some being greeted by family members.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Victims are not being warned their attackers are being freed early under Labour’s mass prisoner release plan, Claire Waxman, the Victims’ Commissioner for London, has warned, adding some could be in danger if they do not have adequate support in place.
Stop Press 2: Watch Starmer explain the rationale behind the early release policy in a Downing Street briefing.
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