WEST Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion has welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision to pause the Government’s early release scheme.
Under The Sentencing Act, due to come into force in September to ease prison overcrowding, thousands of offenders across England and Wales would be eligible to be released sooner than planned.
The scheme came under fire from victims’ families and survivors. These included the family of PC Andrew Harper whose killer faced being included as part of the early release scheme.
It came after criticism of the scheme from survivors and victims’ families, including the widow of PC Andrew Harper who described the possibility of his killers’ early release as “deplorable”.
Mr Campion said: “I have repeatedly and consistently called for the Government to reconsider this scheme, so pausing it is absolutely the right decision.
“In West Mercia we are already seeing the impact on victims and policing.
“I have raised significant concerns about the injustice of offenders who have served only a fraction of their sentence being released back into local communities and the consequences this has for victims.”
He added the Sentencing Act placed dubstantial risk back into the community and added further demand on policing to manage offenders.
“I urge the Prime Minister to urgently review the eligibility criteria and automatic release arrangements, including whether legislative changes are needed to strengthen public protection, keep violent offenders behind bars for longer and ensure safeguards such as electronic monitoring are resilient enough to keep victims safe.
“That review must now form part of a clear, long term plan for prisons – one that protects victims, supports policing and ensures public safety remains the overriding priority.”
When he made the announcement, Andy Burnham said no prisoners would be let out under this policy until an urgent review had been conducted and the Government had done everything it could to minimise the risk to the public.
And, he added, where changes were needed the Government would not hesitate to make them.
