One prisoner let out today under the government’s early release scheme celebrated by saying “big up Keir Starmer”.
But Number 10 did not see the funny side of the situation – with the prime minister’s spokesperson saying Sir Keir “shares the public’s anger” over the matter.
Today is the second time the Labour government has released prisoners early in a bid to ease pressure on the justice system.
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Around 1,100 inmates will be set free on licence after serving 40% of their sentence, rather than the customary 50%.
It includes people on initial sentences of more than five years – but excludes those convicted of serious violence, sex crimes and terrorism.
Mistakes with the last tranche of early releases that saw 37 people erroneously let out “won’t happen again”, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood told Sky News.
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Among those to be let out today was Daniel Dowling-Brooks.
The 29-year-old was given a seven-year term for the kidnap and grievous bodily harm of someone who owed his friend money. His release was brought forward by seven weeks.
After being let out, Dowling-Brooks told journalists “big up Keir Starmer” while celebrating with friends and family, in front of a Bentley and Mercedes G-wagon – both of which cost more than £100,000.
He said the first thing he would do was “go to McDonalds, go to my hostel and follow all the rules”.
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Ms Mahmood delivered a statement on the government’s plans in the House of Commons.
She repeated her attack on the previous administration for leaving prisons “on the verge of collapse”.
Ms Mahmood claimed Rishi Sunak knew he had to act – and was begged to by her predecessor Alex Chalk – “but instead he called a general election”.
She added that, because of this, Labour had “no choice” but to allow prisons to release inmates early.
Setting out her “long-term plan” for prisons, Ms Mahmood says this “must begin by building more prisons” – while criticising the Tories for their record.
“We cannot build our way out of this problem,” she said.
She noted that prison populations grow by around 4,500 every year.
“To build enough prisons to meet this demand, we would have to build the equivalent of HMP Birmingham four and a half times over every single year.”
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The justice secretary also announced to the Commons a review into sentencing to ensure the UK is never again in a position “where we have more prisoners than we have space in our prisons”.
She said the UK “must be smarter about who receives a prison sentence” – but for “dangerous offenders, prison will always remain the answer”.
