Some 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in stages over the next year
Prisoners celebrated as they were discharged from custody on Tuesday, marking the start of the second phase of a government initiative to reduce prison overcrowding.
Hundreds of offenders were scheduled for release from establishments across the nation, coming less than a fortnight after 700 individuals were freed under the scheme.
Outside HMP Durham, one person raised his fist in celebration, shouting: “Yes cuzzie.” Asked for his view on the policy, he said: “F****** belta.”
When asked if he had a message for the Prime Minister, another inmate replied: “Scrap the recalls.”
He explained that despite coming from Sunderland, he was required to journey to Bristol – the location of his arrest – straight away to avoid being returned to jail.
Asked what the conditions were like inside HMP Durham, he said: “Awful. It’s obviously crowded, they just have to get so many people out.”
Another man, released with an electronic tag and a second device which monitors his alcohol consumption, said HMP Durham was a tough, Victorian jail, with poor food and some inmates using the drug Spice.
Some 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in stages over the next year, down from 6,000, after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and the most serious child sex offenders.
Under a separate process introduced by the previous Conservative government, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were freed early between 17 October 2023 and 9 September 2024.
The prison population of England and Wales stood at 87,499 on Monday, according to weekly data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
This is up from 85,761 on June 29 – a rise of 1,738, or 2%.
Ministers say the expanded early release scheme is needed to prevent the justice system from collapsing, after a summer when the issue dominated news headlines.
Criminals will be excluded from the scheme if they have been jailed for a range of offences, including members of child grooming gangs convicted of indecent assault.
Prisoners guilty of manslaughter will also be excluded, meaning the killers of Pc Andrew Harper, who died in the line of duty in 2019, will not be eligible.