Now Labor wants to release thousands of tagged prisoners a YEAR early – after TODAY a further 1,100 prisoners were released under an early release scheme

Thousands of prisoners will be released up to a year before the end of their sentences under major plans announced yesterday.

Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood said the sentence reduction available to offenders under the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) will double from the current six months.

This means prisoners can be released from prison 12 months early in exchange for wearing an electronic tag, which is used to enforce the curfew.

Criminals released at 40 per cent of their sentence under the government’s separate early release scheme known as SDS40 will also shave an extra year off their time if they can also join the tagging scheme, it confirmed the Ministry of Justice. .

Some violent criminals and lower-level sex offenders excluded from SDS40 are eligible.

Thousands of prisoners will be released up to a year before the end of their sentences under major plans announced yesterday. Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood (PHOTO) said the sentence reduction available to offenders under the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) will double from the current six months

It comes amid warnings that prisons could reach crisis point within a year. IMAGE: An electronic anklet of a teenage offender in Britain

Ms Mahmood, introducing plans to reduce prison overcrowding, said prisons could reach a crisis point within nine months.

And yesterday she told MPs: ‘The recidivism rate for the average prisoner is almost 50 per cent, but for offenders released on home detention curfews it is 23 per cent.’

But there are concerns about the number of offenders being recalled to prison after being released under the SDS40 scheme.

Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, warned that plans to curb prison overcrowding would be undermined by a large number of recalls.

He said that in the first three months of this year – before the SDS40 scheme came into effect – there were 13,289 releases and 7,415 recalls of a total of 65,000 offenders under the supervision of probation officers.

Prisoners can be released from prison 12 months early in exchange for wearing an electronic tag, used to enforce the curfew

Last month, around 1,750 prisoners will be released early on September 10 as part of a government release plan to reduce overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales.

He added: ‘My assessment is that there is a significant risk that the amount of space created by the SDS40 changes will be reduced as a result of the high number of recalls we have historically seen in recent years.’

Ms Mahmood declined to reveal how many prisoners released under her program have been returned to prison, but said the figures would be published “in due course”.

In a separate move, the justice secretary said she will change the rules so that prisoners recalled to prison – for example for breaching the terms of their license – can be released after serving a further two or three months.

Meanwhile, the new sentencing review, led by former Tory justice secretary David Gauke, will look at sentences for sex offenders following widespread anger over the soft treatment of internet pedophiles, including disgraced BBC newsreader Huw Edwards.

It is unclear whether it will propose an increase in prison sentences for such crimes, but it could propose solutions such as intensive therapeutic courses to prevent recidivism.